confusion

[Lil_tinx66]

hi

im recently new to all of this and ive been readings posts in general forum and peps profiles. dont understand all this about types 1 ect and brittle and non brittle. ive been asthmatic for as long as i can rememberand never heard of this just wondered if anyone can explain this to me

thanx luv 2 all

lil tinx xxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Hidden]

Hi there lil tinx,

Welcome to Asthma UK; I hope you're finding us to be a friendly and helpful bunch!

Brittle asthma is one of the terms used to describe a particular type of severe and difficult to treat asthma. There are strict definitions for brittle asthma.

Type I brittle asthma is asthma that is poorly controlled, with a wide variation in peak flow during the course of the day, despite maximal medication, including high dose inhaled steroids and usually oral steroids.

Type II brittle asthma may appear well controlled on a day-to-day basis, but is characterised by sudden onset severe, often life-threatening, attacks, completely out of the blue.

People may have a combination of the two types, ie have high levels of day-to-day symptoms but also be prone to sudden onset severe attacks. Most brittle asthmatics will have frequent A&E attendences, hospital admissions and even sometimes Intensive Care admissions and ventilations, and will be on multiple different medications, both inhaled and tablets, to try to control their condition.

Brittle asthma is usually diagnosed and managed by a hospital consultant with a specialist interest in managing difficult asthma, often by a specialist referral centre such as Heartlands in Birmingham or the Royal Brompton in London. It is usually only diagnosed after many tests to rule out other potential causes of the symptoms.

It is thought to affect approximately 1 in 2000 asthmatics, or about 2,500 people in this country, so it is relatively rare. It is not something that most asthmatics need to worry too much about - there is no evidence that 'normal' asthma necessarily progresses to brittle asthma. Many consultants feel that brittle asthma is a separate disease to 'normal' asthma, rather than one end of the spectrum of one disease.

It is important to say that it is just one form of severe or difficult asthma - other people may well have severe, chronic, or steroid dependent asthma without meeting the strict criteria for brittle asthma, and they are not necessarily any better or worse off than those of us who do meet the criteria for brittle asthma.

Hope this answers some of your questions - do ask if you want to know anything else.

Take care

Em H