Lung cancer has very few symptoms at early stage and many people dismiss it as a possibility. We know that 37 per cent of lung cancer patients are only diagnosed when they make an emergency trip to A&E which is far too late. Only around 30 per cent of people with lung cancer survive one […]
When a patient comes to see me complaining of unexplained breathlessness, different possibilities immediately go through my mind. The first thing to rule out is lung disease, like asthma, COPD or lung cancer. Early lung cancer symptoms are often mild and can be mistaken for bronchitis or ‘smokers cough’ but later stage disease often presents […]
Allergic disease accounts for 10 per cent of the GP prescribing budget and the incidence of asthma has reached epidemic proportions. So what lies behind the epidemic? Allergies do tend to run in families, but this cannot be the explanation for why there has been such a huge surge in the number of sufferers. Doctors now believe that our environment, […]
People with severe asthma can benefit from a procedure called bronchial thermoplasty which uses blasts of heat to cut asthma attacks by a third. Around five million people in the UK suffer from asthma and half a million sufferers have severe asthma which cannot be controlled by drugs. 1000 people have fatal asthma attacks each year. The new treatment […]
I would like to thank Public Health England and the British Lung Foundation, in helping to raise awareness about the symptoms of lung disease. I have been in post for two and a half years and our collaborative efforts have already made a huge difference. What is clear is that early diagnosis is key to a […]
Millions of people suffer from asthma which is now recognised as a syndrome rather than a single disease. However, we lack the high-quality data sets to understand the ‘bigger picture’ of this common lung condition and will separate out the different mechanisms linked to distinct asthma types. Yes, we can look at NHS data and patient records, but this information […]
Acupuncture, the ‘needle therapy’ is often used as an aid to help people quit smoking, but there is little evidence to suggest how it works. A study published in the journal Preventative Medicine in 2001, which focused on men and women who reported smoking around 20 cigarettes each day did conclude that acupuncture could help motivated smokers to […]
Diagnosing and managing the causes of breathlessness is a vital part of helping people to lead longer and healthier lives. This month, in parallel with the national breathlessness awareness campaign the British Lung Foundation, in conjunction with the London Respiratory Network, launched the Breathing SPACE framework. This is to make it easier for doctors to […]
The Bordetella pertussis bacteria, which causes whooping cough, is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the lungs and airways which is spread through infected droplets in the air. In recent years, there have been spikes of incidence of this infection, despite a vaccination programme. Symptoms only develop 6-20 days after exposure to the virus. At first, cold-like […]
Bronchiectasis is a chronic lung disease which affects one in 1000 adults causing permanent enlargement of the airways which leads to an excessive build up of mucus. Patients cough to expel the mucus. ‘Coughs associated with this condition are usually worse in the morning as people clear their chest,’ explains Dr Richard Russell, honorary medical […]