Having a conversation with a friend this evening and I was so shocked to hear about her recent experience being diagnosed with asthma. A prolonged cough, wheezing and breathlessness the GP was unable to get on top of things so she was referred on to the hospital to see what was going on. Lung function was not too bad but a very high exhaled nitric oxide test resulted in a diagnosis of asthma.
My first thought was that it was good as she had been started on a preventer and reliever. I didn’t think to ask anymore questions really. She was finding her chest much easier after using the preventer for a few weeks and had very little need for her reliever.
I had made the assumption that once diagnosed she would be given asthma education, told about what signs and symptoms to look out for, what to do should you feel unwell and above all be shown how to take the inhalers both of which are meter dose inhalers (MDI) or the skoosh down inhaler that most people will think of when they think inhaler.
Anyway tonight after a quick question I discovered how badly the diagnosis and management was done. I realised that no asthma education was done, no inhaler technique and she had to ask for a spacer to use her inhaler with as one was not prescribed in the first place. I was horrified that she had not been shown how to take the inhaler. It is an MDI notoriously the most difficult inhaler to get the correct technique and the correct dose into the lungs!
It is so shocking that still new people are being diagnosed with asthma and not given the correct education or support. I am more than happy for friends and anyone really to ask me questions about asthma but surely it should be the asthma nurses or GP’s that give this information when diagnosing. Asthma is in the press enough just now as the asthma death statistics in the UK seem to be getting worse not better and it is among the mild to moderate asthmatics who are dying and most likely due to one of a few factors:
- poor inhaler technique
- not regularly taking there inhaler as prescribed
- not knowing the signs to look out for and take action when asthma control is deteriorating.
I keep going that the research being done will soon filter down into actual practice and asthma management will change. Time spent at the start can help reduce work load in the long run.
Asthma UK has a variety of different documents that can be downloaded to help asthma management and there is no charge so really there is no excuse for people with asthma to not be given the asthma action plan personalised to their needs.
Basic asthma care is essential is we want to achieve the aim of zero tolerance to asthma attacks.
ANONYMOUS-ASTHMA 