(Source: www.asthma.ie)
A young woman with severe asthma says people need much more education about the condition and other invisible illnesses.
Rachel Murray from Sligo says she feels the condition is often disregarded or played down because people don’t realise how severe it can be.
She says as well as the typical coughing, she has to do clearing exercises to empty out her lungs so they don’t get infected, and she often has to deal with severe pain.
She also wants them to learn more about the condition:
“You can have asthma, but there are varying degrees of it…everyone’s symptoms are very, very different. And it’s just understanding that if you have intermittent asthma and you’re prescribed a blue inhaler, that’s very different to myself, where I’m taking four inhalers a day and a daily nebulizer and medication to try and control the inflammation in my airways.”
Sign Up For Asthma Society s Love Your Lungs Challenge & Do Your Bit This May
Did you know over 380,000 people in Ireland have asthma?
Also, one in five people are likely to develop the condition at some point in their life.
The Asthma Society of Ireland have launched their Love Your Lungs virtual fundraiser, supported by ALK, as part of Asthma Awareness Week.
It takes place from 1-8 May, 2021 and they want you to get involved.
The past year has been a particularly worrying time for those affected by asthma as COVID-19 it s a respiratory illness.
Due to this, Asthma Awareness Week 2021 wants to focus on the importance of good asthma management and controlling the condition.