(PRWEB UK) 11 June 2015 -- Medical Specialists® NHS Pharmacy are proudly supporting Breathe Easy Week 2015, set to begin on 15 June and running until the 21st. The theme of this year’s Breathe Easy week has been chosen to be 'breathlessness', with the aim being to make people aware of what can impact the lungs and cause create problems.
Many may not be aware of this astonishing statistic, but more than 12 million people across the UK are affected by lung disease (meaning an estimated 1 in 7 people in the UK are afflicted), a major factor in why the charity the British Lung Foundation (BLF) run Breathe Easy Week each year in mid-June.
The BLF primarily aim to use Breathe Easy Week as a method of boosting public awareness of the seriousness of maintaining lung health and instil more knowledge into everyone about the risk factors that can detrimental to the lungs, and cause any number of major lung conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer and many more.
The term ‘lung disease’ basically covers any problem within the lungs that hinders them from functioning as they should. The three main types of lung disease:
• Airway diseases – These impact on the tubes that transport oxygen and other gases into and back out of the lungs, normally resulting in a narrowing or blocking of the airways, creating a feeling that has often been likened to trying to breathe out through a straw. Common diseases of the airways include the previously mentioned long-term conditions asthma and COPD. Asthma is so common, that around 5.4 million people across the UK are currently receiving treatment for asthma – This equates to 1 in every 12 adults and 1 in every 11 children. Thousands of patients for the aforementioned conditions have been coming to Medical Specialists® for several years, requesting blue reliever inhalers like Ventolin Evohaler and Qvar brown preventer inhalers.
• Lung tissue diseases – This type of lung disease involves scarring or inflammation on the tissue that affects the structure of the tissue, making it more difficult for the lungs to get oxygen and emit carbon dioxide. This causes many who suffer from lung tissue diseases to compare the feeling to that of wearing a sweater that is too-tight.
• Lung circulation diseases – With these types of lung disease, clotting, scarring, or inflammation affects the lung’s blood vessels, reducing the lung’s capability of taking up oxygen and emitting carbon dioxide. There is also a risk that heart function could be negatively affected. Pulmonary hypertension is a common type of lung circulation disease.
Perhaps the biggest course of action anybody can take to boost their lung health is quit smoking – or continue to not smoke of course for those that do not do so already. Smoking is single-handedly the biggest cause of COPD (an umbrella term given for a range of conditions that include chronic bronchitis and emphysema).
Smoking results in damage being caused to the airways and lungs, leading to a gradual development of COPD. Although damage to the airways is irreversible, stopping smoking can put a halt to the onset of COPD, or at least slow the progression of it. It is worth remembering that symptoms can also be made much worse for asthmatics and those with other lung conditions that continue to smoke.
Many COPD patients are usually prescribed a short-acting bronchodilator inhaler such as a beta-2 agonist like salbutamol, used to ease the symptoms when the person begins to feel breathless. If this type of inhaler is not sufficient, you may be instead prescribed a long-acting bronchodilator inhaler, whereby each dose lasts for 12 hours.
The hugely underestimated second-hand (passive) smoking had widely been pinpointed as another major cause of lung disease. For this reason, the BLF have obtained a petition of signatures to make it illegal for anybody to smoke in cars with children present.
People around the country can make a big difference to campaigns like this with just one signature, and the BLF will be running Breathe Easy groups that will be holding talks, coffee mornings, quiz nights and lots more exciting events.
Also, don’t forget that patients with asthma or COPD can obtain blue reliever and brown preventer inhalers today from Medical Specialists® Pharmacy, following an online consultation with one of the Medical Specialists® GMC-registered doctors.
David Bailey, Medical Specialists® Pharmacy, http://www.medical-specialists.co.uk, +44 161 762 9108, [email protected]
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