Asthma hospital admissions have fallen by 76 per cent since Open Airways began its education programme two decades ago.

But the condition remains the leading cause for trips to the emergency room, with a total of 1,871 visits last year telling the charity that asthma management failed in those cases.

As the organisation gears up to mark World Asthma Day tomorrow, co-founder Liz Boden stressed the need for people with asthma to take control and learn how to manage their condition.

“Probably 50 per cent of the people who have got a prevention inhaler don’t take it,” the asthma nurse and educator told The Royal Gazette.

“They take it only when they get asthma. So that’s like getting a toothbrush out when you’ve got a toothache. The prevention is like brushing your teeth, it’s every day.”

According to Mrs Boden, one in five school-age children in Bermuda have asthma, compared to one in ten in the US and one in 11 in the UK.

And while she said the exact reason is unclear, asthma is usually genetic “and it is pretty hard to find a family in Bermuda where no one has asthma”.

“Asthma is the number one reason for people visiting emergency with 1,871 in the last year, next is chest pain with 934 — so we have a big lead.

“Another 706 went to emergency with upper respiratory infections and 483 with pneumonia, so you can see how many are respiratory.”

She said infection was the leading cause for asthma sufferers visiting the hospital, with some attending the emergency department more than twenty times a year.

“Every visit tells us we failed basically,” Mrs Boden said. “We have failed you because you should know how to manipulate your dose.”

Asthma is a potentially life-threatening disease that affects people of all ages, although it is most common in childhood and among women in their thirties.

People with the condition have inflamed airways, which leads to the airways swelling and they tend to react strongly to certain inhaled substances.

When the airways react, the muscles around them tighten, narrowing the airways and causing less air to flow into the lungs. The cells can also make mucus, causing further narrowing.

This chain reaction can lead to symptoms including coughing, chest tightness, wheezing — a whistling or squeaky sound while breathing — and shortness of breath.

Put simply, Mrs Boden said asthma means you have “sensitive” airways. But she stressed that asthma is different for everyone and triggers vary from person to person.

These can include dust mites, stuffed toys, pollen and grass, mould, pets, sprays and perfumes, air pollution and colds.

Mrs Boden added: “Asthma is common, disabling, distressing, potentially life-threatening and treatable! No one need suffer with asthma.”

She said the key to getting control of the condition is learning how to manage it with an asthma action plan.

“The asthma action plan is telling you how to fine-tune your treatment. It’s not complicated but it has to be personalised. It’s not something where one size fits all.

“Everyone must know how to fine-tune their treatment, as soon as they have symptoms or when they know they may get symptoms, for example if they are getting a cold or visiting grandma who has a cat.”

She also stressed the importance of understanding which inhaler prevents asthma and which one relieves the symptoms and how to use them correctly.

“The Ventolin only works on the tight muscles from the outside. It doesn’t stop the swelling. If people keep using this, it opens it up, that let’s more triggers in. It wears off, you use it again, more go in and then because you’ve used it so much, you kind of train them to keep twitching.

“The standard now is if you use it more than twice a week you have poor control.

“This is not the treatment for asthma — this is just the rescue, the reliever. Good control means I’m not using this at all. The prevention inhaler, which is often orange or brown, have to be taken.”

She said many people only start taking their prevention inhaler again when they feel like they are getting a cold. Mrs Boden said this is too late because it can take up to two weeks to start working.

Open Airways will join 80 countries around the world to mark World Asthma Day tomorrow and health professionals will be on hand to help teach people when and how to effectively use their inhalers, which they are encouraged to bring along.

The organisation will also be giving away 100 pillows to the first 100 people who come for asthma education as part of the Pillows for Prevention programme.

The event will be held on the steps of City Hall from noon to 2pm tomorrow, with entertainment starting at 11am. For more information, visit www.openairways.com or www.facebook.com/OpenAirwaysBermuda

Trigger advice

A trigger is anything that may irritate sensitive airways.

And while it is impossible to avoid all triggers, people with asthma can control and avoid some of them.

For example:

Do Not

• have too many stuffed toys

• have carpet in the bedroom

• sleep on old pillows or mattresses

• use spray cans or aerosols to clean

• use air-fresheners

• have Easter lillies at home

• stay around smoke

• walk along busy roads

Do

• put stuffed toys in the freezer every week

• have wood/tile in the bedroom

• have a new pillow every year

• use microfibre cloths and water to clean your home

• open windows every day

• have green houseplants

• cover your cough and wash hands

• ask your doctor about a flu shot