World Asthma Day: UK Asthma Deaths Rise 20%

Submitted by GAtherton on 1 May 2018

Deaths from severe asthma attacks are thought to be largely preventable using better awareness and management (Royal College of Physicians review 2013). This article written in the newspaper ‘The Times’ today mentions that death rates from asthma have increased since 2013 and are higher in the UK compared with EU countries that have more asthma, but lower numbers of deaths.

The article highlights little progress in how the NHS manage asthma since the RCP review. Neither patient or GP seemed to appreciate that even a mild case of asthma could quickly become severe of treatment was poor. The author of the review stated that NHS bosses had ‘ignored most of his recommendations’.

 What impact do microbes have on exacerbating asthma? A recent research paper published in the scientific journal PNAS has screened the chronic inflammatory status of people living in towns and urban areas with those who live in much less intensively populated rural areas. The former had much less contact with animals compared with the latter. The authors theorise that early contact with farm animals & pets is important for the reduction of inflammation and they detected far more inflammation in people who live in urban areas and have no pets than in people who have pets or live in an environment where animals are more common. People with a much higher variety of microbiota tended to have lower chronic inflammation.

This suggests that coming into contact with pets and all their dirt and microbes can help reduce inflammation and thus reduce the risk of severe asthma. As urbanisation is increasing, so we may need to ensure our children continue to come into contact with animals so as to protect them from inflammatory diseases such as asthma.