I don't know any more than the title says but thought it might be of interest.
Bex
Channel 4 Dispatches How to Beat Your... - Asthma Community ...
Channel 4 Dispatches How to Beat Your Childs Asthma - Thursday 9pm
39 Replies
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sounds interesting, if anyone knows how I can listen to it on the internet please let me know!! Brynne
I read a brief review about it in the Sunday Times at the weekend. Basically following a few families as they try out allergen reduction techniques in the home. The writer of the review seemed to have something of a cynical view of the asthma nurse - something to the effect of she seemed to think that all the world's problems could be solved as long as you wrapped it in a micropore matress protector.
I read a brief review about it in the Sunday Times at the weekend. Basically following a few families as they try out allergen reduction techniques in the home. The writer of the review seemed to have something of a cynical view of the asthma nurse - something to the effect of she seemed to think that all the world's problems could be solved as long as you wrapped it in a micropore matress protector.
Has anyone seen it? Any thoughts? I don't think it brought any revolutionary material to be honest. My bedroom at home looks like a prison room or something, it is so bare. No carpets, no curtains, all books behind glass, no soft toys. Everything wet cleaned every single day. I lived like that for 10 years and guess what it did not helped my asthma. It helped nocturnal symptoms, fair enough but not those during the day. The program is oersumplyfaing: clean your kids room and that will solve the problem. Yea, right.
What I find a bit disturibing is the amount of reliver medication those kids were using. Did I miss something or were they not put on preventers at all? ith this level of reliver use I would be looking on puting them on long acting bronhodilators let alone inhaled corticosteroids or other suitable preventer. Also I think parents should control more how much of the reliver they are taking and when. I am not in favour of locking up the relier by no means but kids should now how (the technique demonstrated was poor) and how much of inhalers to use.
I watched most of this programme tonight and as a parent of a 10yr old with difficult asthma it has really irritated me. I dont even know where to start, It has raised many issues for me.
1.The children I saw taking inhalers didnt use a spacer and had poor technique, I have always been told by the Brompton that not using a spacer means only 10% of medication is delivered. So maybe more children need help in learning the best way to take inhalers.
2. If asthma could be cured as simply as putting a mattress cover on bed,damp dusting and removing carpet my son wouldnt be taking 10 medications a day to keep him well.
3. People can be very flippant about the seriousness of asthma and programmes like this suggest people are in some way to blame for their illness by not cleaning properly which is definatly not the case. Unfortunatly some people have to take medication to stay alive not through choice!
4. As a parent there is always something to feel guilty about, and to be honest the asthma nurse's bullying attitude and making parents feel guilty for not obbsessively cleaning is not a positive way to help anyone and I certainly am very relieved I dont have anyone like that involved with my sons care.
It is a real shame that channel four chose to turn a programme about a serious subject that could have been of benefit into a very damaging episode of 'supernanny' . Obviously there is benefit in damp dusting, laminate floor, matress cover etc etc but it isnt the sole cure and I really hope people dont suddenly think they can stop giving children medication on the basis of this one experiment.
Sorry if I'm rambling now but this program has really got under my skin.
Julie xx
I was a less than happy bunny about this.
I felt that the insinuation was that asthma is somehow the persons own fault because they were not clean and/or tidy.
It also carried the insinuation that asthma could at least be reduced if not cured by allergen avoidance when we all now that is only a small part of a big problem. Yet again it seemed more of of the ""you can cure yourself of asthma bandwagon"" what worried me is the underestimation of the seriousness of asthma and the fact that it did not take into account the other myriad of triggers. My impression was that by allergen avoidance you stop the need for your inhalers. Ok well that certainly wouldn't of helped me last week when i was fighting for breath simply because I had a cold.
Watching the children I felt there was a need for a far mor rigerous approach rather than focusing on allergen avaiodance alone. There was no examining of inhaler technique (which for most of the children was terrible), no examining of other triggers, no examaning of medication and so on so forth.
Overall I think that this programme took a narrow minded view which did no asthmatic justice!
Channel 4 Dispatches How to Beat Your Childs Asthma depressed me and showed me how little attitudes have changed to Asthma in the last seven years.
It was seven years ago that I got rid of my Asthma after watching a BBC documentary in the QED series called Breathless news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/... about the Buteyko Technique. That documentary showed tremendous improvements in sufferers and motivated me to buy the Alexander Stalmatski book 'Freedom from Asthma'. It was not easy, but I never needed a dilator from that point on. I gave up using the preventative regularly after a year, and used it during colds for a few years more. It has been five years since I had any kind of Asthma. That program really changed my life.
I have found that most adult Asthma sufferers are resistant to my tip for beating Asthma as they often seem too attached to their medication and find the central proposition of Buteyko, that they are in fact generally breathing too much, counter intuitive.
However, after seeing a lot of mouth breathing, coughing and supercharging on dilators among these poor kids I hope some childs mother, father or carer will observe their childs mouth open during the day or asleep at night, and notice how they hyperventilate at the time they get tightening and wheezing and realise that it's all about breathing. I gather children do very well with Buteyko training.
In my opinion it is both cynical and misery making to suggest to parents and children that their environment is harming them. They are sensitive to many things because their immune system has been weakened by the long term effects of hyperventilation. Anyone with raw inflamed airways would be sensitive to dust mite droppings. I used to get severe attacks of Asthma watching telly that made me laugh out loud, and although I did avoid certain programs or conversations, I don't believe it was a satisfactory solution! Even worse to try to create a clinical environment in the home. Making kids get rid of their pets, toys and cushions! And giving the parent an impossible task to fulfil! It probably appeals to some practices because it points the blame at the sufferer and carer, keeps them occupied and they don't have anything else to offer in any case.
The NHS should spend some of the 600 million plus that they do on Asthma drugs on some alternatives. Buteyko doesn't interest the drug companies who in turn influence the health service because it doesn't need drugs.
Another less than happy viewer here!
Having read the posts of the others who have already summed up, I wont repeat anything, except to say, DREADFUL.
Most if not all of what they were being taught as parents/child sufferers, was only basic common sense. Did you hear the comment of the mother who was complaing she had no time and was going to have to wash the sheets on a Sunday now? I was also shocked that several of the Mothers had such a poor attitude towards doing their utmost to keep their homes dust and clutter free. I would freak out living in homes like theirs.
This was not a fair programme to the less than committed participants or those of us who suffer severely even though we live in dust free, clutter free, carpet free homes.
Yes, the inhaler techniques overhall left a whole lot to be desired, as did the trailers. One of which showed one of the children relieving her 'attack' with a Becotide inhaler. Again, incorrect facts.
The women who delivered the information/solution/cure even to the illness, also rubbed me up the wrong way with their blatant lack of bedside manner. Something that stressed the Mothers, and therefore also no doubt, the children.
Dreadful. I did record it, but wont be giving it a second viewing. Sorry Channel 4, but that was not one of your best efforts.
I, too was concerned. Concerned that these children were not using spacers - again, my child's consultant stipulates spacers must always be used. Concerned that these children were having to get rid of their pets - again, my child's consultant says that as we had the cats first, and it's their home too, keep them 'til the end of their natural lives. . . and don't have any more! He is concerned about the emotional damage to the child if we 'get rid' of them - and whether other siblings would blame the asthmatic for doing this. My child reacts very strongly when it rains - nothing anyone can do about that one! The amount of times they were using the relievers on the programme, too - shouldn't htey be on steroid tablets, or as someone else said, preventers etc etc? My child's room is clean - doesn't stop him reacting to other people's deodorant /perfumewhen he's in a public place - cinema, bus, theatre, classroom!
I think the poor inhaler techjnique was the 1st thing got me going, talking about ""putting on show"" I would be amazed if those kids got any releiver in at all.
Dreadful PF technique but I guess if the kids always use dreadful techinque then an improvemenr would show although obviously they would not get to their ""predicted best""
Another thing, has anyone not reacted to HDM on the skin prick tests. I have a friend who does allergy tests at a private clinic and she says everyone reacts to HDM. Is like stinging nettles prick a little HDM into your skin and the world and its wive react?
Did anyone else think that Katie might have been on lot steriods? She had a ""pred face"".
Other comments like asthmatic children tend to smaller than average made me do a double a take. when I was at school the only other kids on ventolin were like me tall. Maybe some of them where small, light for other reasons, to randomly blame asthma was a bit of sweeping statement.
Actually that is what summed up the show ""sweeping generallities"" with no room for the possibilty that other factors might make the kids wheeze, not a mention of things getting worse when they had colds. No mention of problems depending on the time of year, a passing mention to excersise was made but that was in talking about the ""fatter"" kid which I am sure most watching would then say well it is cos he is fat not cos of his asthma.
The Asthma nurse on itI feel might be suffering from OCD anyone watch Monk on daytime TV?
Bex
Channel 4 Dispatches 'How to Beat Your Childs Asthma'
I was just wondering what a 'pred' face is. Katie is not on steroids.
Katie's mum...Kay
Julie
Perhaps they should have used our children as an example
Aaron also has all the allergen bedding, I damp dust and vaccum every day, we have no cats, but have just got a dog. He has been allergy tested and he is not allergic to dogs. He has a sub-cut and lots of other medication. I too was shocked that the children did not use spacers!!!!!! Perhaps the general public will now think that we are not doing the best by our children and we could prevent attacks! More hassle from school, other parents and children! Aaron is a chronic severe asthmatic and allergic to just about every-thing. I feel these ""do gooders"" no not what they do!
Kay, It is where the face looks a little more rounded due to fluid put on when people are taking steriods. Whilst watching I was looking out for those who might have recently used of be taking steriods Katie (I think although I did get her another girl muddled later) looked a possibilty.
And yes that was me making sweeping generaliies re the effects of pred on children and adults I have a pred face, no offence meant. It was a comment on her asthma not on her.
There was no mention made during the show of any other triggers to the asthma exercise, cold weather, perfumes, colds and other virus. Did they find children who only had allegic asthma?
Also I am interested to know how the children were selected was it from the ""normal"" route ie a ad in a paper or through some other means. What was the selection process like could it be the show is skewed towards allergic asthma?
Bex
I agree with the comments here and did get annoyed in one way at the programme but to me the postive side is there are a lot of parents who dont get the correct advice who, who dont know their kids could be allergic to things which in turn will make the ashtma worse.
I was astounded by the parents but they have obviously never been educated not given options for differnet treatements. This programme at least highlighted the need for this in our country. yes the nurse was abrupt but she was frustrated to see kids suffering when they could be helped.
It helped me in one way as my ex may relise I am not a mother who is over the top but someone who cares about his asthma and thats why we take the measures we do.
I think it shows that sadly in this country we are not pro-active enough unless the child becomes seriously ill and ends up with the expert advice form places like RBH or if you are lucky you have aknowledgeable gp and good pedeatric consutlant.
I hope like a similar programme recently that this will highlight the need for more allergy specialists and advice so that we can improve some kids/adults lives if possible.
Many thanks for your reply Bex. Katie has been on steroids in the past e.g. if she gets any kind of chest infection / cold we usually end up in hospital.This time of year - when the pollen count starts rising we can end up in casualty.
Katie's asthma is triggered by lots of things.
We answered an ad in the Hackney Gazette - my desperation to try and help Katie.Katie's asthma is not cured but the changes we have made at home and Maureen's, yes at times harsh words (!) have helped at home. She is sleeping better and I think that in itself has helped her become stronger.
Katie is using her spacer now. We have been to many hospitals over the years and we were never advised to go back on the spacer to make it more effective. Common sense probably - but i think when she was about 7 we were told not to use the spacer any more - something about now she is old enough and spacers can cause chest infections etc.
So much conflicting / different and sometimes just plain bad advice I think.
Anyway best wishes...Kay
Tired mums
The programme suggested a link between children's asthma and, among other things, dustmites.
This gave me the idea of a link between asthma, especially in children, and mums who are too tired and/or busy to do the extra cleaning required. A mum in full time work must find it dificult to do even ordinary housework. I suspect that it would be economical to spend money enabling these mums to work less instead of on all the treatments.
I would like to hear from parents of children with asthma who work, those who do not work, working mums whoes children do not suffer, Non working mums whoes children do/do not suffer.
Ana Hyde
Kay, thanks for your reply, I am not in the least surprised you seized on the ad in the local paper I am sure most of here would do the same! What was the selection process like?
It is also good to hear that Katie has benefited from the advice and the new regime. How tough has it been keeping it going once the 9 weeks were up. Have you found you can ease up a little or do you need to do it 100% or not at all?
I think the programme was wrong to give the impression that banishing HDM was the magic answer to all asthma problems. I will be interested to see if in the 2nd programme they admit the asthma is not cured but one of the trigger factors has been elimiated, which can improve things significantly.
Had anyone before this programme suggested any of the measures you are now doing, or was this approach something totally new?
I am looking into having flooring changed in my bedroom for now we are having it steam cleaned once a month to kill the little critters. And I do have all the special bedding. I am however guilty of sitting downstairs in my nightie, so now I will revert to the victorian housecoat for the day and keep nightdresses upstairs out the way.
Re spacers I think attidtude towards them has altered over the past few years initially I think they were viewed a devices to help the young and the eldery who migth struggle with timing and working the pump. I had spacer until recenty when changed from ""pumps"" to powder inhaler.
Once again well done to Katie even fly on the wall documentaries are hard work, on a curious - as I am in the business - point how much lighting, sound equipement did it entail having dragged in and out of the house!
Bex
ps I just realised I have asked a whole bunch of questions, sorry...
Cathbear
I am rather upset that Cathbear chose to critisise my post without inviting a reply
I am not suggesting that these mothers are in any way less able or inferior, I am suggesting that we demand too much from them. The measures suggested are a lot more than ordinary housework. We, as a nation, benefit from them, so why should we not contribute. I think that if we paid these mothers to take, say, a day off each week we would show a direct profit in lower medicine use and vastly greater, but less obvious profit in the form of better performance from the children.
Alf
I apologise if I have caused any upset, however I don't see how my post can be construed as what you say it is. This is after all a ""discussion"" board, so I do feel that you may expect negative as well as positive replies; after all, if we all agreed with each other the world would be a very boring place 
My post was intended as a friendly warning that you may get some, erm, interesting replies from working mums, particularly on the back of quite a few comments on the ""Dispatches"" thread which raised points such as people being considered ""substandard"" or ""dirty"" re: housework etc. It was not intended to criticise. I merely stated my viewpoint on the matters you raised.
As this is a discussion forum, surely the right to reply is implicit anyway?!
Apologies for delay in reply to Bex. Maureen and someone from Channel 4 visited us and Maureen did give us some very good advice almost immediately - dust mite / allergen avoidance has never been mentioned before in all our many visits to various medical professionals.
It was hard work - video diaries and having camera crew in the house at times etc. but the improvement in Katie's life and her school life has been great.
I don't think any of us were under the illusion that our child's asthma would be cured but the quality of their life improved.
It is hard work keeping the regime up totally and to be honest some days it is impossible - but the simple changes we have made for example getting rid of rugs in Katie's room and not having all her old teddies on her bed - the covers etc. in her room means she get's a good nights sleep (not every night) and just that has made such an improvement in her health (and my sanity).
It was Maureen who recommended this site to me, she does come across as hard but I feel she was very kind to Katie and has helped improve Katie's life and that was the reason we participated.
Best Wishes..Kay
Sorry one last thing. I replaced the carpet in my other daughter's room with lino (very reasonable cost) and this has made such a difference to her life.
All the best...Kay
Looks like it's a thumbs down for C4. I thought the programme was very cheap television. A sort of ""How Clean Is Your House"" meets ""Changing Rooms"". Anyway, I agree with many here - poor & excessive reliever use, no mention of other medications / techniques. Even the trailer showed a girl ( I think ) taking two squirts in succession followed by immediate relief. There was also no attempt to explain why the parents didn't have any asthma symptoms. Were there any dads ? I don't think I saw one so let's blame it on single mums then with their filthy & disgusting homes. Whatever the reason for the rise in asthma, programmes like this do little to inform the public or investigate what is going on. I wonder who sponsored it. P.S. 'Ere mate, want some cheap laminate flooring, nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more.
i was appaled with the techniques used to use thier ionhalers and no spacers? i was shocked that one child had used half a canister of inhaler in a basketball match dont these kids have preventers? i was hoping to find some helpfull advice insdead i was worried about these kids im not very impressed with channel 4 to say the least
With some knowledge of how the business works I suspect the boring stuff like preventer usage what else triggers asthma etc was edited out or not even put in. I would also have thought that shoots showing corect reliever usage which is done propery take more than a couple of seconds were also not used or asked for.
Knowing kids of this age group quick puffs are considered slightly more cool than standing and taking your time.
Bex
I noticed the bad inhaler technique also, but I think if they're not told they're not going 2 know any better.
Seems quite a hard task cos I don't think I could handle the level of cleanliness their asking of the families.
Please remember this prgramme will have been edited to make it good viewing and to keep an audience watching. Like the preview clip for next week they show you a juicy bit to make you want to watch.
Sometimes what you see wont be necessarily how it exactly was.
after watching that programme, my boyfriend and I decided that we should completely gut our bedroom and we are going to but some of the barrier covers for the pillows and duvet. does anyone know where i can get hold of some?
the actual programme itself was quite intersting, however i was concerned over the idea that some of the children left to self medicate ""over using"" their inhalers, i have worries about my 14 year old sister in law who has been diagnosed with mild astham, she takes her inhaler evry few mins and her pf is WAY higher than mine. i am intregued about how they next programme wil go, the first one was ok.
I thouught taht the program itsellf was quiite good. I haev been usign barrieer covres on my bde for 10+ yearrs now and haev found taht thye do makke a diference in nihgt tiem symptoms BUT u do haev to wassh thme regularly ohterwies you defeaat the object. I haev got into a rouutine of doign minne evrey 2 weekss whicch is managabble for me & sems to worrk for the sympptoms as wel.
The ohter poiint taht i wantde to maek was taht is finne to trry and elimninate the allerggen trigers in the asthhmatics hoem btu thye wil stil ceom into conttact wiht them when thye visit othre peeps houesses etc & whne thye are at schoool etc. You cnt live in a bubbble - i thouught taht manny of the poinnts weree good - ie nto haeving carpet in the bedrooom, keping cluttre to a minimum, makign suer soft toys were washde regularly as wel. But i'd haev seriouus trouble kepign up iwht the clening regimee taht was sugestde.
I wil certiannly wathc the next progrm to see hwo the parennts and kidss get on.
Just to let you know Wendy the covers that Channel 4 gave us were called allergocovers and I did order some for my other daughter from the web...co based in Milton Keynes - Diagenics (?) There are cheaper versions in BHS and John Lewis but I don't know if anyone else knows of any other suppliers.
Best Wishes...Kay
i found the website that channel 4 brought them from its diagenics.co.uk/html/dust_m... i hope this helps im going to order some p.s they are qiute expensive
Looking Forward to Part Two!
Well guys, I took timeout at Center Parcs to watch Channel 4’s Dispatches program and I thought that part one of the asthma documentary was brill!
Well, this is the way I see it…
I take my wig off to Channel 4 and the Dispatches Team because it’s about time we seen an allergy/asthma education program on the TV specifically targeting parents that don’t have much of a clue about what is going on with their childrens’ condition and not receiving any real advice on how to control/manage and to improve their child’s condition.
Not enough effort is put into educating the public about the damaging effects of indoor allergens and the self-help techniques which could be so beneficial in reversing asthma trends.
Lets not loose sight of the facts here. We are talking about preventing asthma in our children. Even if education (using TV as the medium) only helped a very small percentage of children in the population then I believe this would still be worth the time and effort to improve the quality of life and to even offer the potential to save life. Even if the Dispatches program only improved the quality of life of say 1% of asthmatic children, then this would still equate to a substantial improvement in a large number of children who may not require such high levels of medication to control their asthma, and who could go on (if managed correctly) to live an asthma-free life.
One of the fundamental difficulties with the AUK forum is the mix of people who tends to post and seeks help/advice/support through the forum. You see, most of the people on the boards come here out of desperation because either their asthma condition has become unstable/more serious or their child has become similarly affected. This is not a problem because that is exactly what the forum is designed to do. However, this is probably only representative of only a very small percentage of the asthma population. Most asthmatics (or parents of asthmatic children) feel they don’t need specific help/advice/support because they believe the asthma appears to be controlled by taking relievers and they have not been educated in any asthma management or allergy avoidance techniques and therefore do not know any different.
My point is, I don’t think it is helpful to leave negative comments about a health education program which has the potential not only to improve the quality of life of our children but to save life. Education to the masses has been a long time overdue and I really do believe in time that we are going to see a change in attitude and a reversal in asthma trends. Perhaps through the power of advertising AUK can attract many more mild (less severe) asthmatics to the site so that a more balanced view can be disseminated.
Just like many of the regulars who post here, I could identify weaknesses and errors in the program content, but, hey, does it really matter. The correct basic information was there to improve the quality of life for our children (future adults). Perhaps in time we will see other more detailed allergy/asthma education programs on the TV for those who really want to learn more about allergy and asthma control/management techniques.
Derek
Personaly I think that even the basic massage: clean you house has been put through all the mistakes and errors cannot be ignored. For example seeing a child taking a steroid inhaler during an ""attack"" and getting a relive from it. What kind of massage that it sends? It can easily confuse people in first place, secondly this child clearly did not need a reliver at this time. In appropriate, almost constant use of relivers on screen with terrible technique (I am not saying that all children need spacers as at this age some are managing ok without but not if they technique is so poor), which was not addressed at all. Preventative therapy was not mentioned at all, which is very worrying as some parents may get an idea that if they keep they house clean it is appropriate to discontinue the preventer.
The aim of this program may be to educate the public but I am still sceptical about it. It concentrates only on one, very narrow aspect of asthma management. If people need this sort of programs as a source of information it leaes me thinking what are GPs and asthma nurses doing. I would imagine that importance of triggers avoidence is being mention during one of initial consultations.
Number of sciantific studies showed clearly that this sort of techniques featured in the programm are of limited benefit if on any on a population scale. I am very happy for the kids on the programm to get better but it hardly proves anything.
Anna, if you are looking for scientific evidence of the benefits of allergen avoidance, I would direct you to read my post titled 'Indoor Allergens' in the medical thread which contains some scientific proof, much more can be provided if required. The writing has been on the wall for quite some time now, but unfortunately over recent years this method of health care has been ignored in favour of solely treating the condition with medication, which now appears to be widely accepted as incorrect. Treating allergy solely with medication is kind of like putting a sticking plaster on the wound without finding out what caused the wound in the first place and preventing the wound from re-occurring. And I am sure we all know what happens when we have repeated inflammation of the respiratory system over time.
I am sure you will agree that disease prevention is far better than treatment.
Take care,
Derek
I have read your other post. Quite interesting. I should look up some of those articles but they are a bit old so it may be diffcult (medline here i come lol). There is quite a lot of evidence that suggest however that those methods are not effective (looking on specific techniques like barrier covers or special vacum cleaners). Also wheras I have no doubt that keeping your house clean is important I don't believe that it should be treated as an ultimate solution.
It is not a treatment for asthma. It is marerly a way to avoid one of the things that may trigger asthma. What about polen, viral infections, perfumes, food adities, exercise etc the list is almost endless.
The reliver may be considered a plaster. However preventer plays much more important role. It has been proven that it not only prevents further inflamation but alows for damage that has been already done to be reversed to some extend when taken regularly as prescribed. I may be biased, being a medical student I am constantly being thought how important drugs are and that people who don't want them are simply noncomplient etc but I still think that undermining the importance of preventative therapy is dengerous. Asthma UK may have similar views as folowing ""Dispatches"" they put up an article which stresses how important it is to keep up with preventer and that allergen aoidence is only one of the many means to control asthma.
Hi Anna,
I can help you if you want to look up some of the references that were listed on my medical post. The allergy publication is very comprehensive, running to over 300 pages and has an excellent cross reference section at the back which confirms the location of all referenced research contained in the various learned journals.
Just let me know (using PM) what information you require and I will help you the best I can.
Take care,
Derek
Anna,
Just a thought...
It would be good (healthy) to have a lengthy discussion on the pros and cons of allergen avoidance and would welcome your further comments/thoughts.
Perhaps we can continue a detailed discussion/debate on the medical thread and this would also encourage others to leave comment away from the more general Dispatches thread.
Take care,
Derek
Spacer mis-information
I would like to clear up one thing regarding spacers they are not just for people who because of age (young and old) have trouble timing ""pump and breathe"" they are also very useful for those who have such poor entry that they simply can not manage a big breath in. I am not using an ""puffer"" type inhalers right now, but I used a spacer with my flixotide and seretide especilly when in an attack cos I simply could not take the big breathe required to get the medicine into the my lungs.
People see spacers as something for those who for various reasons have poor inhaler technique and that is simply not true!
Bex
Spacer mis-information
I would like to clear up one thing regarding spacers they are not just for people who because of age (young and old) have trouble timing ""pump and breathe"" they are also very useful for those who have such poor entry that they simply can not manage a big breath in. I am not using an ""puffer"" type inhalers right now, but I used a spacer with my regular preventers - flixotide and seretide - especilly when in an attack phase cos I simply could not take the big breathe required to get the medicine into the my lungs.
People see spacers as something for those who for various reasons have poor inhaler technique and that is simply not true!
Bex
I missed it
guess what Josh decided to add himself to the list of asthmatics in the family and I was busy showing him how to use a spacer properly and calming him down, the only attacks he tends to witness involve his mum and greenmen
Anyone care to give me a quick summery.
Bex
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