Why we need to be taking asthma more seriously

In 2022, a national review of asthma deaths in the UK found that roughly two-thirds were preventable. That figure haunts Dr. Samantha Walker, Director of Research at Asthma and Lung UK. She has sat with parents whose children died and partners who lost a spouse, and almost always the same phrase comes up: "We didn't know. We didn't know this could kill." The tragedy, she says, is not just medical but psychological — a mismatch between how patients perceive their own risk and what their lungs are actually doing.

What asthma actually is and why it is hard to take seriously

Asthma is, at its simplest, "an over twitchiness of your airways." The tubes that carry air into your lungs become inflamed and narrow in response to triggers like cat dander, house dust mite, air pollution, mold, or even stress and anxiety. The result is wheezing, mucus overproduction, and difficulty getting air in and out. About seven million people in the UK have asthma, but only about 60,000 per year end up in hospital because of it. That gap — between the millions who have the condition and the relatively few who experience a severe attack — creates a dangerous psychological blind spot. If you do not feel symptomatic right now, it is very hard to stick to a daily medication routine for a problem that might not happen.