BBC News | HEALTH | Cold air and exercise trigger asthma

The key triggers for asthma attacks are cold air, exercise, the menstrual cycle and aspirin, according to a new study.

Researchers at the National Heart and Lung Institute carried out a study of 97 patients from the PARA UK database - the first ever long-term study of patients with "at risk" asthma.

They found:

70% of patients claimed both cold air and exercise as a key trigger for an asthma attack

2% claimed attacks could be triggered by allergies to peanuts

14% of patients found aspirin to be a common trigger

10% of females declared their asthma episodes were related to their menstrual cycle

55% said laughter could cause an attack.

The findings were unveiled at a British Thoracic Society meeting.

Professor Chung, lead author of the research said: "These findings help expose some of the key risk factors for asthma sufferers and will be especially useful for those with severe asthma.

Increase in asthma

"It is important that asthmatics live their lives to the full.

"We hope this research will help improve the management of their condition and patients may plan with their asthma nurse or doctors how best to manage, or in some circumstances, avoid certain situations which may trigger an asthma attack."

These findings help expose some of the key risk factors for asthma sufferers and will be especially useful for those with severe asthma

Professor Chung, asthma expert
Dr John Harvey, Chairman of the British Thoracic Society (BTS), said: "This is useful research which demonstrates how important it is for asthmatics, whether their condition is severe or mild, to plan with their carers for the effects of certain situations.

"We hope that research and investment will continue into the causes and effects of severe asthma attacks in order to help the millions of sufferers in the UK."

Recent statistics from the BTS, show that just over one in 10 adults and 20% of children have doctor-diagnosed asthma.

Asthma levels in the UK have risen 14% in males and 165% in females between the 1980s and 1990s.


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