Please are you able to introduce yourself and tell us about your skilled background in addition to your current role at Asthma + Lung UK?
I actually have been a GP for 18 years and work with Asthma + Lung UK as their Clinical Lead. I support different parts of the charity by ensuring its work is medically accurate, including helping to create our health advice, liaising with expert nurses on the helpline, or influencing the NHS and decision-makers to enhance take care of patients with respiratory conditions.
Are you able to tell us a bit about Asthma + Lung UK? What’s your strategy to attain a world where everyone has healthy lungs?
Asthma + Lung UK is the country’s leading lung charity. It’s committed to providing higher outcomes to the 12 million individuals who will develop a lung condition of their lifetime, whether that is asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis, or another respiratory illness.
Fighting on your right to breathe | Asthma + Lung UKPlay
Currently, the UK has the best rate of lung deaths in Western Europe, with only 2% of publicly funded research spent on respiratory health. Yet lung disease is the third biggest killer within the country. As a charity, we don’t think this is sweet enough, and we’re campaigning for extra money to speculate in research to develop latest medications. We also want lung health to be as much of a priority as other conditions, resembling heart disease and cancer.
What’s pneumonia, and the way do infectious lung conditions, resembling pneumonia, affect existing lung conditions?
Pneumonia is a sort of chest infection that affects the tiny air sacs in your lungs, called alveoli. When you’ve gotten pneumonia, these air sacs get inflamed and fill with fluid. This makes it harder for somebody to breathe. Symptoms include coughing up mucus, a hot temperature, difficulty respiratory, chest pain, and lack of appetite.
It’s one in all the leading causes of death in winter, and other people with existing lung conditions are at higher risk of severe illness.
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Babies and young children are at higher risk of getting pneumonia because their immune systems will not be yet fully developed. How does pneumonia impact the lives of youngsters and their families? What must be done to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric pneumonia?
Many cases of childhood pneumonia could be prevented. Reducing exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke (even on clothes), promoting routine childhood vaccinations, and a healthy food plan and regular exercise are all crucial in protecting children’s lungs.
The particular theme of World Pneumonia Day 2022 is ‘Pneumonia Affects Everyone.’ How necessary is it to enhance the visibility of this disease and the people it affects?
There may be an assumption that pneumonia only affects older, more vulnerable people, but this isn’t all the time the case, with Asthma + Lung UK research revealing that annually almost one in every hundred adults will probably be affected by the infection.
Pneumonia is dangerous and could be fatal, so it will be important to know tips on how to prevent it. Some steps people can take to guard themselves include not smoking, adopting handwashing to forestall infection, and having a pneumonia vaccination if eligible.
The uptake of this jab isn’t as high accurately. Those eligible for the free vaccine include adults over the age of 65, those at occupational risk, resembling metal staff and welders, and kids and adults with long-term health conditions resembling COPD or severe asthma. Most adults will only have to have this vaccination once of their life.
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How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia?
It has been a little bit of a mixed bag, really. On the one hand, individuals are more aware of respiratory conditions and usually tend to take respiratory issues more seriously. Still, on the opposite, for some, there may be increased resistance to searching for medical care, or they face difficulty accessing it.
What are the following steps for you and your work? Do you’ve gotten any exciting projects coming up?
Asthma + Lung UK is currently funding some crucial research into the impact of female hormones on asthma, as we all know that ladies usually tend to be hospitalized with asthma than men and have double the prospect of dying from an asthma attack.
Where can readers find more information?
You’ll find out more about pneumonia on our website here: http://asthmaandlung.org.uk/pneumonia
About Dr. Andy Whittamore
Andy is a practicing GP in Portsmouth and the charity’s Clinical Lead.
He has worked as a GP for over 15 years and has a wealth of information about diagnosis and treatment of lung conditions, including asthma, in primary care. He has held a variety of roles driving innovation and quality improvement, including working for the Primary Care Respiratory Society UK, on the Department of Health’s Respiratory Programme, and as Clinical Champion for FeNO testing at NHS England.
Andy has been interviewed for a variety of national and regional media outlets, including the Telegraph, BBC, and Sky, and written for publications including GP Online, OnMedica, and Patient.info and can provide expert clinical insight on all lung conditions in addition to how digital innovations resembling apps may help people manage their lung health.
Follow Andy on Twitter: @76whit