The common beliefs on Asthma

Presenter - Right and how you can you be diagnosed with asthma?

Martin - That's a difficult one because there are some Specialists who say in the really young with the 1 or 2 years that you actually can't have asthma, okay having said that talk to any GP and they see plenty of wheezy children. So we now have another like list of diagnoses that we use to skirt round that issue and we call it sort of something else like Wheezy Bronchitis, or Viral Induce Wheeze, or something. So I'm not saying these Specialists are wrong but we can sometimes start inhalers on sort of 2 year olds, 3 year olds that sort of thing.

Presenter - Really yeah. That's quite frightening for parents though isn't it you think 'this is it they've got that forever now' but as you said they may grow out of it.

Martin - They may well grow out of it and if it's more this sort of Wheezy Bronchitis or Viral Induced Wheeze thing they may easy grow out of it or it may be quite a temporary thing or often just an intermittent thing. So they will have for like a week or two, you'll tell the parent what to do, once their better stick the inhalers and everything in cupboard, they gather dust then you know they get a cold and it all comes back.

Presenter - Then that dust gives them the asthma.

Martin - Big vicious circle [laugh].

Presenter - So can you manage your lifestyle I mean we're talking about sort of leading a normal life by having inhalers but can you actually sort of manage your lifestyle so i.e. don't have cats and dogs, don't have curtains.

Martin - Yes. Yes.

Presenter - I don't know dairy, does dairy effect it that sort of thing?

Martin - Yes. Yeah. Often asked about diary. There will be some people who are you know dairy allergic but for every one of these there are probably 1,000 people who think they are but really aren't you know it's probably more something else. Yeah shoot the cat sometimes the advice, often not followed.

Presenter - He didn't mean that, don't shoot the cat, give it to a neighbour of something.

Martin - Only joking, only joking but of you know that cats' fur sparks you off then

Presenter - Try and avoid it.

Martin - probably when the moggy finally departs don't replace it. Because that is quite a difficult one, having said that you know people can actually get used to that allergen, strangely children you sometimes find will get used to their cat allergen and will gradually get better.

Presenter - Yes your body kind of works out how to deal with it

Martin - Body seems to somehow yeah absolutely. So you know finding those sorts of things can be quite useful so that at least you know what's sparking it off you can adapt your lifestyle perhaps hoover up the fur a bit more often that you should do, keep that cat out of a particular room that sort of thing.

Presenter - I know some people have a real regime don't they of getting rid of dust mites don't they and mopping everything and it's a lot of work but if it helps the child I suppose it's worth it isn't it?

Martin - Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.

Presenter - Okay we've got time for a few more questions David has written in from the West Country and he wants to know "Is there any evidence to suggest a link between asthma and throat cancer?"

Martin - No is the answer part from can I say again the smoking really that would be a common link in as much as, as we've already said not that smoking really causes asthma although in some people it probably may be a big factor, but it's you know ridiculous to smoke and have asthma it just goes without saying, the link is that throat cancer is so closely linked with smoking to the point where it would be quite unusual for somebody to develop throat cancer having never smoked or having never had exposure to smoke as in being a passive smoker so that's the link. But I wouldn't want him to think that if you have severe asthma that somehow you're at a higher risk of getting throat cancer there is no know link between the two of them other than you know the smoking link really.

Presenter - Well thanks for that Martin. Now Sarah from London has written in and she wants to know "Is it true that they're removing CFC's from inhalers?" They're the gases that deplete the ozone layer aren't they?

Martin - That's exactly right yeah.

Presenter - There's something going on with that at the moment isn't there.

Martin - Yes Sarah you're absolutely right and you'll be please to know actually that that process has been going on for quite a few years and is now pretty complete so that when your GP prescribes your reliever or your preventer it is almost certainly gonna' be CFC free. Pretty much 1005 now so you can rest assured you know that that avenue of reducing CFCs in the atmosphere is pretty much sewn up. You'd be hard pushed now to find an inhaler that has CFCs in it. Also quite a lot of people will recognise that fact that their inhaler is something called a dry powder inhaler which doesn't have any what is called propellant in it at all. The propellant is the thing that sort of squirts the aerosol out and a lot of people have a dry powder inhaler where they literally just suck the stuff in, so no propellant at all no CFC you know very-very straight forward. So yeah we have you know I say we, the medical profession the pharmaceutical companies have actually thought of that avenue of things and have pretty much covered it now.

Presenter - Okay well I hope that helps you out, your GP will be able to help you out with that if you ask him or her. Now time for just a few more questions. We've got in from Maymee Richards I hope I've pronounced that right she says "I've never had asthma attack but often have bouts of breathlessness, this can happen when I walk briskly along flat ground and it gets worse upon exertion walking up hills and worse still when playing sports e.g. tennis. I use a Beconase inhaler and nose drops daily and Salbutimol as necessary every twelveish minutes with tennis."

Martin - Yes. Did she say she's not sure she's asthmatic?

Presenter - Yes she says "I've never had an asthma attack but often have breathlessness".