“Asthma is more common among Indigenous Australians, particularly women, than among other Australians.”
FAQs
Frequently asked questions about managing asthma for people with asthma and their families, plus extra details for health professionals
- Can hay fever make my asthma worse?
- Do I need to take my preventer medication every day?
- How can I prevent asthma attacks?
- How do I find a doctor or pharmacist nearby who knows about asthma?
- Is it okay to take aspirin?
- Should I stop taking my asthma medications if I’m pregnant?
- Should I avoid milk and other dairy products?
- Why do I need to shake my puffer before using it?
- Why should I use a puffer and spacer instead of a nebuliser?
- Will moving somewhere else help my asthma?
1. Can hay fever make my asthma worse?
Yes. An itchy, runny or blocked nose due to hay fever or allergies (called allergic rhinitis) can make asthma harder to control. The good news is that treating the symptoms in your nose and throat can also improve your asthma symptoms.
Corticosteroid nasal sprays are effective treatments for managing allergic rhinitis. They can be used every day long term, if needed, just like preventers for asthma.
Learn more:
Is your nose making your asthma worse?
Allergic rhinitis and your asthma
Asthma and allergy (asthma series brochure 1)
Using your nasal spray
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Up to 80% of patients with asthma have rhinitis.
Learn more
Allergic rhinitis and the patient with asthma |
2. Do I need to take my preventer medication every day?
Yes, if your doctor has told you to do so. Preventer medications help make your airways less sensitive by reducing the amount of redness and swelling (inflammation) in your lungs. Preventers need to be taken regularly to work properly – they help keep your asthma under control and help you avoid asthma attacks.
Sticking to medications can be hard. Ask your doctor, pharmacist or asthma educator to explain your medications – sticking to your treatments can be easier if you know what they are, how they work and why you need them. Ask for a personal written asthma action plan, which has instructions on when and how you should use each of your medications.
Learn more
Medication tips
Written asthma action plans
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Adherence to prescribed therapy is a major factor in successful asthma management. Strategies to improve adherence include:
Learn more Asthma adherence: A guide for health professionalsAsthma action plans |
3. How can I prevent asthma attacks?
You can do several things to help prevent your asthma symptoms getting worse or developing into an asthma attack.
- Know what triggers your asthma and try to avoid or reduce your exposure to these triggers
- Take your medications as instructed by your doctor, even when you feel well
- Follow your personal written asthma action plan, developed with your doctor
- Make sure you are using your inhaler (puffer) properly
Learn more
Written asthma action plans
Controlling your asthma
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Written asthma action plans are one of the most effective asthma interventions available. Use of a written asthma action plan:
Doctors should consider developing a written asthma action plan when discussing asthma management with all people with asthma and/or their carers. Learn more |
4. How do I find a doctor or pharmacist nearby who knows about asthma?
Finding a general practice and pharmacy close to home to help manage your asthma is important. Most people can have their asthma managed effectively by their GP (often with help from an asthma educator or practice nurse) and pharmacist, and don’t need to see a respiratory specialist for their usual care.
Find a Practice, an online tool from the Royal Australian College of GPs, provides details of general practices by location. If you want to check the asthma services provided by a nearby practice, you could phone and ask the receptionist whether any of the doctors have a special interest in asthma or whether the practice offers an asthma clinic.
Go to: Find a Practice
Find a Pharmacy, an online tool from the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, gives details about pharmacies near the address you enter. The Advanced search allows you to enter the type of services you need, such as asthma management.
Go to: Find a Pharmacy
To find a respiratory specialist or allergist, ask your usual doctor. Normally you will need a referral from your GP to be able to claim any of the specialist consultation fee back from Medicare.
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Our best-practice asthma and respiratory management education workshops for health professionals are designed for the whole primary care team. Ensure your knowledge and skills are up to date by attending one of our free workshops, held with GP networks/divisions around the country. Learn more |
5. Is it okay to take aspirin?
Possibly. Fewer than one in nine adults with asthma are sensitive to aspirin and similar medicines like ibuprofen (called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs). And aspirin-intolerant asthma is even less common in children. However, if you have experienced sensitivity to aspirin or one type of NSAID, you are likely to react to other types of NSAIDs too.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist about risk factors for aspirin-intolerant asthma and whether you can stop avoiding these pain relievers.
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Aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can provoke asthma or rhinitis symptoms in some people with asthma, yet many others can take these medications with very low risk of an asthma reaction. The risk of a reaction to aspirin or NSAIDs is highest in:
All products that contain aspirin or any NSAID should be avoided by anyone who has been diagnosed with aspirin-intolerant asthma and anyone who has previously experienced runny nose or wheezing 1–3 hours after taking aspirin or NSAIDs. Learn more |
6. Should I stop taking my asthma medications if I'm pregnant?
No. Most asthma medications have very good safety profiles for use in pregnancy, so don't stop or change your asthma medications without first speaking with your doctor. Remember, if you can't breathe, neither can your baby.
Speak to your GP to make sure that your day-to-day asthma is under control with appropriate medications and that your personal written asthma action plan is up to date so you know what to do if your asthma flares up. Ensure your whole healthcare team (e.g. obstetrician, midwife) know that you have asthma and how you manage it.
Learn more
Written asthma action plans
Pregnancy
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Poorly controlled asthma increases the risk of pre-eclampsia, prematurity, low birth weight and perinatal mortality. However, good asthma control reduces these risks. Most medications for asthma have good safety profiles in pregnant women. The pharmacological treatment of asthma during pregnancy should be the same as for non-pregnant women. If oral corticosteroids are clinically indicated for an exacerbation they should not be withheld because a woman is pregnant. Learn more Asthma Management Handbook 2006: Pregnancy and asthma
Murphy VE, Gibson PG. Asthma in pregnancy. Clin Chest Med 2011; 32: 93–110. |
7. Should I avoid milk and other dairy products?
No. The ‘milk myth’ – the idea that milk makes mucous or that dairy triggers asthma – has been busted by scientists for some time. In fact, cow’s milk and other dairy foods very rarely trigger asthma symptoms in people without milk allergy.
Limiting dairy in your diet can have significant health and nutrition effects, particularly for children, so talk to your doctor first if you have any concerns about food reactions.
Learn more
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Milk consumption does not lead to mucus production or occurrence of asthma. Findings from one group even suggest that there may be an association between increased milk intake and reduced incidence of asthma symptoms in children.
Food allergens are uncommon triggers for asthma in any age group; as few as 2.5% of people with asthma react to foods in blinded challenges. Most people with asthma can regularly include dairy in their diet, unless an allergy to cow’s milk is proven.
Wuthrich B, Schmid A, Walther B, Sieber R. Milk consumption does not lead to mucus production or occurrence of asthma. J Am Coll Clin Nutr 2005; 24: S547–55.
Wijga A, Smit H, Kerkhof M, et al. Association of consumption of products containing milk fat with reduced asthma risk in preschool children: the PIAMA Birth Cohort Study. Thorax 2003; 58: 567–72. |
8. Why do I need to shake my puffer before using it?
The liquid inside your puffer is mixture of medicine and propellant (the substance that forces the spray into your lungs). The medicine droplets tend to settle separately from the propellent inside your puffer when you aren't using it.
This means that if you take a dose without shaking, you could be inhaling just the propellant and no medicine at all. The mixture settles back quickly, so you need to re-shake before each puff.
Learn more
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Aerosol inhalers such as metered dose inhalers (MDIs) are formulated with drug particles and propellants in a dispersion. To facilitate delivery to the lower airways, the particles need to be of small size (i.e. 2–5 microns) and to have sufficient kinetic energy. Each drug particle needs to be coated with propellant, which will later evaporate and impart the required kinetic energy to the particle.
The purpose of shaking is to ensure that the dispersion is uniform and that each drug particle is coated with propellant. |
9. Why should I use a puffer and spacer instead of a nebuliser?
The latest research shows that a puffer with spacer works just as well as a nebuliser for treating asthma in almost all circumstances, including during an asthma attack. A puffer with spacer is also simpler, cheaper and handier, is much more portable, and has fewer side-effects.
If you or a family member still uses a nebuliser for day-to-day or emergency asthma management, ask your doctor whether you can make the switch.
Learn more
Using your inhaler
Spacer use and care
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Medication delivery via nebuliser is no longer recommended for routine asthma care. A growing number of systematic reviews have found that a metered dose inhaler (MDI) plus a large volume spacer is at least as effective as nebulisation for treating asthma in almost all circumstances, including mild to moderate acute exacerbations. In addition, patient overreliance on nebulisers during an acute episode may delay effective treatment and increases the risk of life-threatening asthma. Not only is an MDI plus spacer more convenient and cost effective than a nebuliser, it is also easier to use and maintain and has fewer side-effects. Nebulisation should be reserved for patients with severe or life-threatening asthma requiring continuous oxygen and salbutamol. It should be considered for self-management (e.g. for patients with complex comorbidities) only in exceptional circumstances. Learn more Asthma Management Handbook 2006: Delivery devices
Cates CJ, Bara A, Crilly JA, Rowe BH. Holding chambers versus nebulisers for beta-agonist treatment of acute asthma. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006; (2):CD000052
Cates CJ, Bestall JC, Adams NP. Holding chambers versus nebulisers for inhaled steroids in chronic asthma. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2006; (1): CD001491. |
10. Will moving somewhere else help my asthma?
Moving to another suburb, city or even country is a very big step if your asthma is the only reason you are considering such a move. Unfortunately, it may not have as much impact as you hope.
Different people’s asthma is triggered by different factors, but many people with asthma have an underlying allergic sensitivity (called atopy). For example, if you are allergic to grasses and pollens, you might have fewer symptoms on first moving from an inland region to a coastal area. However, while a different climate may help in the short term, over a longer time you might develop sensitivities to triggers in your new environment such as dust mites.
Before making such a move, speak to your doctor and/or asthma educator about your asthma and your concerns. There may be some simple steps you can take to improve your asthma control in your current home.
Learn more
Controlling your asthma
Using your inhaler
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The whole of Australia is an asthma zone – asthma prevalence is similar across the country, although perhaps slightly higher in rural areas than urban. Local asthma issues are very much dependent on the local allergens such as pollens, grasses, moulds and house dust mites. Coastal cities tend to have higher dust mite levels, particularly if they have humid climates, but the inland regions, while drier and with lower dust mite levels, have many types of pollens and moulds that can trigger asthma. Learn more |
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