Asthma affects 1 million children in the UK. One-in-eight children with asthma have at least one asthma attack every year and 25,000 of those will be admitted to hospital.
We all produce a gas called nitric oxide in our breath but people with asthma produce more than those who don’t have this condition. The University of Aberdeen is going to use a breathing test to measure how much nitric oxide children breathe out to see if this can match treatment to the individual child and reduce the risk of asthma attacks.
By adding this breathing test to a child’s usual asthma care, researchers at the university hope to reduce their risk of having asthma attack by up to 30%.
Before they carry out a trial to see if this works, they’d like to speak to parents who have children with asthma between the ages of 6 and 16 to find out what they think. If you’d like to find out more, please contact Steve Turner on s.w.turner@abdn.ac.uk for him to find a convenient time to hold a brief telephone discussion.
Best wishes to all,
Bethany