A Patient’s Perspective – “The management asthma has changed dramatically over the last 30 years. I was the child who wanted to play football, but had to play in goal, who had rounded shoulders and a blue inhaler in every pocket. I remember sleepless nights with emergency visits from the doctor. When inhaled steroids became available they took away the sleepless nights. The development of new treatments has made a huge impact on my life. I still have asthma, but it’s well controlled by preventative treatments. I certainly don’t notice have it, and nobody else does either.”

A Doctor’s Perspective – “As a GP who is also an asthmatic, I find asthma a really satisfying condition to treat. It is common, with 5.1 million sufferers in the UK. In my practice, 80 per cent of the asthmatics will have mild-to-moderate disease. I aim to achieve total control of their symptoms using current treatments, giving them a good quality of life. And the standard of patient care is getting higher, either through specialised units or one-to one consultations with nurses or doctors. Asthma is an area where national treatment guidelines have been adopted and have had a major impact on disease management.”

Over the last 30 years our R&D organisation has produced improved medicines to treat asthma and better ways for them to be taken. These advances have been vital in enabling healthcare professionals to provide ever-improving patient care. However, asthma still causes suffering and even death, so we will continue our research with the aim of further improving the lives of the growing number of people affected by this disease.