Hot off the Helpline: May edition

Meet the team

Meet Deborah

I’m Deborah and I’m a Respiratory Specialist Nurse working on the Asthma + Lung UK helpline. In my career, I’ve worked as a school nurse, a practice nurse, and a Director of Nursing. I was the Clinical Lead on the first Asthma Friendly Schools Project, which was part-funded by Asthma UK. This led me to taking on the role of Clinical Lead at Asthma UK, which taught me so much.

I also work as a trainer for Education for Health, supporting other healthcare professionals to learn and develop their skills in looking after their patients with lung conditions. I feel privileged every day to work with such dedicated and amazing colleagues, and every day I learn something new. I’ve also been fortunate to be able to support our Clean Air Champions Project as a paediatric specialist nurse. We are now in our second year, and I continue my learning journey, having developed a passion for all things to do with air pollution and clean air. I look forward to exciting and busy times ahead, not only at work but at home, as I await the birth of my first granddaughter, who I am sure will be learning about clean air.

Top questions on the helpline this month

I’m a school teacher - can you help support me to support our pupils?

One in 10 school children have asthma – that’s an average of three children in every classroom. Supporting children with asthma involves making sure there is immediate access to inhalers, having a written Personalised Asthma Action Plan (PAAP) for each child, and knowing what to do in case of an asthma attack. Keep inhalers in a place that’s unlocked, accessible, but safe, and ensure spacers are used and correctly. Make sure all staff are trained to recognise the symptoms of asthma like wheezing, fast breathing, or coughing.

Making sure their asthma is well cared for is necessary for the child to be safe and well at school and helps encourage them to do their best. While some older children may be fully independent with their asthma, younger children, or children with a recent diagnosis, are likely to need more support and assistance at school. Having the right training, education and support systems in place ensures all school staff know what to do if a child has an asthma attack.

We also work with schools to educate staff and children about the importance of clean air through our Clean Air Champions programme. We encourage the whole school community to help to improve their air quality. We also raise awareness of how air pollution can affect -  or even cause - children’s asthma.

I’m coughing more - why?

Coughing is a natural response, often when our lungs are irritated. It‘s a protective reflex that helps clear your airways of irritants like smoke, pollution, mucus, and foreign particles. It’s often triggered by infections like colds and flu and allergies like hay fever. Persistent coughs may stem from acid reflux or medications such as for blood pressure. It can also be a symptom of some conditions, such as asthma, COPD and bronchiectasis.

The NHS advises seeing your GP if you’ve had a cough for more than 3 weeks, you have breathlessness which is not improving, or your symptoms are affecting your daily life.

If the cough is accompanied by other concerning symptoms such as high fever, difficulty breathing, chest pain, or wheezing, it is important to seek immediate medical care.

I have Interstitial lung disease -how can you support me?

We’ve had more people calling us about interstitial lung disease (ILD) who want to understand their diagnosis. Many also want to know what treatment they might have and what to ask their doctor to get the best care.

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the name for a group of lung conditions that damage the lung tissue. There are more than 200 different ILDs.

Interstitial lung diseases cause scarring in your lungs (pulmonary fibrosis), inflammation in your lungs or a mix of both. Some mostly cause scarring. Some mostly cause inflammation. Often there is a combination of scarring and inflammation.

Worsening ILD symptoms can sometimes be due to a flare-up, a chest infection, progression of their disease or other complications.

The symptoms and course of these diseases may vary from person to person. The common link between the many forms of the disease is that they all begin with inflammation.

Find out more about what pulmonary fibrosis means and what interstitial lung disease (ILD) is. We also discuss the outlook of pulmonary fibrosis and explain how pulmonary fibrosis can affect your breathing. 

I’ve been referred to a consultant to review my asthma - what can I expect?

Seeing a consultant for your asthma is usually helpful to get your symptoms fully assessed and make any improvements to your treatment. You can typically expect a detailed discussion about your symptoms, triggers, flare-ups , how you’re managing in your daily life and how well your current medications are working. They may also ask you about allergies, whether you smoke or have smoked history, and your family history.

The hospital may also arrange tests like FeNO (fractional exhaled nitric oxide), spirometry or blood tests. These tests help confirm how well your asthma is being controlled on your current treatment.  You may have had these tests when you were first diagnosed with asthma. Depending on your case, they might suggest allergy testing, chest x-rays, or a CT scan if more investigations need to be done.

If you have severe asthma, you may need specialist medicines too. Your specialist team will work with you to find the right treatments to help you manage your symptoms.

You should leave your appointment with your consultant with a better understanding of your asthma, an up-to-date asthma action plan (what to do daily and during asthma attacks) and tailored advice on avoiding your triggers and managing your symptoms.

Find out all about specialist care for asthma.

Healthy lung habits

Each month, we talk about a healthy habit that you can adopt to help keep your lungs healthy. This month, we discuss the importance of vaccinations on your lung health.

For people with lung conditions, respiratory infections can be serious and can turn into a severe illness. Infections like influenza (flu), COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and pneumonia can make it harder to breathe by increasing mucus production, causing a flare-up of your lung condition. It can put you at risk of a flare-up or asthma attack, and lead to hospitalisation or even death. For older adults, it can be harder to fight off infections because our immune system weakens naturally as we age. Staying up to date on the vaccinations that are recommended for you is an important part of your care and can also help protect others around you. If you’re unsure which vaccines are recommended for you, speak to your GP, pharmacist or healthcare team.
 

Dates for your diary

World Asthma Day – May 5 

World Asthma Day is a global initiative aimed at raising awareness about asthma, a condition which affects millions of people around the world.

World Asthma Day is spearheaded by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), which works to reduce the impact of asthma worldwide. The theme this year is ‘Access to anti-inflammatory inhalers for everyone with asthma.” GINA continues to emphasise the need to ensure that all people with asthma can access inhaled medications that are essential for controlling the underlying disease and treating attacks.

To lower your risk of symptoms and attacks, you should always have an inhaler that contains steroid preventer medicine. No one with asthma should only be prescribed just a blue reliever inhaler (SABA) on its own. If you’ve only got a blue reliever inhaler, your GP can prescribe an anti-inflammatory reliever inhaler (AIR) instead. Asthma guidelines state that this is a safer way to manage your symptoms.

Webinar spotlight

Asthma webinars

To celebrate World Asthma Day, we have two special webinars focusing on asthma.

On Tuesday, 5th May, we’re going back to basics, supporting your understanding of 'what is asthma'. We’ll be running one-off webinars, led by respiratory specialist nurses, about common triggers, diagnosis and treatments, plus how schools can support pupils with asthma. There are two 45-minute slots available, at either 9.30 am or 3.45 pm. 

On Wednesday, 6 May, our webinar will focus on asthma research, and Professor Hannah Durrington will be joining us to talk about new perspectives in asthma research. Come along and hear all about exciting new research into asthma.

Thank you for reading this month’s blog. Stay tuned for next month’s edition.