asthma boy dies

This was on the local news today, a teenage boy dies from an asthma attack and although not mentioned online the TV new did say that the boys steroid inhaler dose was increased 5 times.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england...

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I have heard this story too and it worried my mum! The issue in the case in not the fact he died but she couldnt attend a review of the case in order to judge the medciation changes. He was on high dose inhaled steriods and his mother felt he was getting worse. I know its easy for me to say on the outside but if she had concerns over the medcations and her sons aathma she sshould of highlighted it before it got into a severe attack.

I didnt catch the whole story but I think he was on a dose that wasnt best suited for his age

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bizkid, thats difficult to say..

my doctor recently added flixotide as a top up to seretide 500 i was pretty shocked but it works for me. its hard to say that the mother should have checked as i was really worried about adding it in but you know what its worked to control the severity of my attacks. Even though its not controlled still im say 50% better but have odd irrating symptoms - but on a high dose.

its a difficult choice as it seems as though this works but then its a different method to taking preds in my opinion!

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Yes adding new inhalers is always a scary thought but what I was saying if you notice things getting worse then you go back how every many times that is needed

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Hi Confused,

Please don't worry too much about taking high dose inhaled steroids. It is far better to have good asthma control with inhaled steroids than to take courses of Pred regularly or on a daily basis. The main difference is the inhalers act directly on your lungs so can be used at much lower doses than Pred which is a systemic steroid and has far more side effects if taken regularly. Although very high doses of inhaled steroids can be detrimental to children (which is why all children on higher doses are monitored regularly by a specialist) there is little evidence of them having much effect on adults.

I think Bizkid was trying to say she couldn't understand why the mother didn't seek help sooner when her son was not improving. It is very hard to get a clear picture as the media are good at only including the information they choose.

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Bizkid is so right, if you have worse control after increasing your steroids or whatever, then don't ignore it but go back to your GP. The side effects of the ICS are few and far between and are preferable to not maintaining control.

This case is a bit weird as some seem to think is come to make the news due to the fact that the mother isn't/wasn't allowed into any inquest hearings, yet the local TV news highlighted the point that the inhaler was increased to 5 times the original dose. We don't know what dose he was on originally, but it does raise the question of actually how well do people recognise and respond to worsening or unimproving symptoms and then seeking help.

I was having a chat last night on the phone to a researcher who phoned on behalf of AUK, and the point I mentioned above is one that he'd heard throughout the day of people not acting quickly enough to get on top of deteriorating symptoms.

having read loads of research papers on the ICS, I'd be happy to take high doses to keep control, secret is knowing the side effects and watching out for those and go to your GP when they are more than a minimal occurrence.

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Hi all

I agree that if meds aren't working or if there is any slight concern, a trip to the Doc's is required. Please do bare in mind that it is not always as simple as that. In my lifetime I have encoutered many doctors (GPs and hosp docs), some good and some not so good. It is not unheard of that a GP's attitude can be unhelpful, judgemental(usually incorrect jumping to conclusions!) or intimidating. While a lot of us have the confidence to rise above these behaviors and push for what we know is right or change docs which is a completely warranted step should you find it impossible to communicate with your doc, others find it difficult to do this and opt for the alternative - the non attendance or even denial or avoidance of warning signs. I suggest a little understanding. We don't know the full situation or possible attitudes encountered by others.

Keep well all

Erasmus

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Although as people have noted below, we don't know all the facts of this case, the question this raises in my mind is whether the parents were made aware by their healthcare providers that they were dealing with an unpredictable and potentially fatal condition and that anything more than minimal symptoms needs medical attention? Between 20 and 40 children under 14 die annually in the UK, often sudden-onset attacks. This is, thankfully, a relatively low number but there is still a widespread belief that children no longer die from asthma - for most of the families these deaths come as a complete shock. In this case there was reportedly no inquest and the mother is protesting about not being allowed to be present at the Child Death Panel which is to discuss what lessons, if any, can be learned from this tragedy (legislation introduced in 2008 requires these to be held locally after an unexpected child death). I realise that there may be valid reasons why the local PCT does not wish parents to be present but, from my perspective, to a recently bereaved parent who has questions about her late son's treatment, this must feel like adding insult to injury.