Young adults, diagnosed with asthma and who have long working hours, tend to miss their inhalers more than children or older people, said doctors.
When it comes to children, parents administer the inhalers twice a day or as prescribed, and older people are more disciplined about using inhalers, doctors said.
“We are worried about younger adults who work for long hours, they tend to miss their inhalers more than adults or children. Discipline is a problem when you are out working and don’t have symptoms, which is where the problem of treating asthma lies,” said Sushmita Roychowdhury, director, pulmonology, Fortis Hospital, Anandapur.
“Of the patients we see, 10 per cent of them are younger people who have poorly controlled asthma because of their work commitments and lifestyles,” said Roychowdhury.
On the occasion of World Asthma Day on May 6, Fortis Hospital Anandapur hosted an asthma awareness session on the care and management of the condition.
World Asthma Day is held on the first Tuesday of May.
Centred around this year’s theme: “Make inhaled treatments accessible for all,” the initiative aimed to highlight the importance of equitable access to inhaled therapies as a key step towards better respiratory health outcomes.
A panel of pulmonologists highlighted the importance of early diagnosis, adherence to treatment and the need for greater awareness around inhaler use in asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases.
“People tend to think that an inhaler is addictive. We want people to understand that, like blood pressure, diabetes, and asthma, it is a chronic disease that has to be controlled and cannot go away by taking medicines for a few days,” said Roychowdhury.
The best treatment is not tablets because in pills the medications are in milligram quantity, whereas an inhaler is a localised treatment, she said.
“Inhalers have milligram quantity medications which are delivered right into the airways when you take a deep breath, and they work locally with minimal side effects,” she said.