The Modern Management of Asthma (page 1 of 6)
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Around 100 million (7.2%) of the world population have asthma including 6% of adults and 10% of children. In the UK, approximately 5.2 million (1.1 million children and 4.1 million adults) are currently receiving treatment for asthma, and 8 million have been diagnosed with asthma at some stage in their lives. People in one in five UK households are affected and it is more common in urban than rural areas. Asthma, therefore, is among the most common of all chronic disorders at all ages.
Although there is an increasing understanding of the triggers and cell biology of asthma, and a multitude of effective drugs and inhalers, asthma is not under control. In the UK, 80 million working days are lost and 69,000 hospital admissions occur each year for asthma. Remarkably, one in six people receiving emergency treatment for asthma will need emergency treatment again within two weeks and, sadly, on average, one person dies of asthma every seven hours in the UK. The reasons for this continuing morbidity and mortality are complex, but may involve low patient expectation leading to an acceptance of continuing symptoms, and a belief among patients and some doctors that asthma only requires treatment when there are symptoms.
