Cipla has unveiled the ‘Breathefree – Campaign' across south India. The promotional exercise which was flagged off from Bengaluru was simultaneously launched in Hyderabad, Chennai and Kochi. The awareness initiative is part of the World Asthma Day being observed on May 6, 2014.

Breathefree, a public service initiative from Cipla had medical experts congregate to sensitize the public on the early diagnosis of asthma and the right treatment to control the condition.

Patients of asthma who are not under the right treatment run the risk of attacks which require hospitalization because it could be life-threatening. If asthma is treated as per guidelines, costs of managing asthma could be reduced tremendously both for the individual and the government.

Doctors reinstated that the lack of awareness on asthma in India prevents it from being diagnosed in the early stages and of the 30 million asthmatics in the country, most are unaware, undiagnosed or are being sub optimally treated for asthma, noted pulmonologists.

Further, it has been found that adherence to asthma medication regime is poor among children and adults and the rate of non-adherence is estimated to be around 70%. According to a study, every 17th woman per 1,000 women suffers from asthma.

Among children, boys suffer from asthma almost twice than girls do, however, this ratio gets reversed as they grow up. Pre-pubertal girls suffer from severe asthma attacks because of hormones change. The peak is observed at menopause when women are twice likely to suffer from asthma as compared to men of the same age.

According to the experts, asthma severity in women is attributed to the reproductive hormones and the ability to breathe can be affected by menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause.

According to Dr H Paramesh, paediatrician and a leading pulmonologist in Bengaluru, women asthmatics need to keep away from triggers like biomass fuels for cooking, passive smokers, smoking, alcohol, environmental factors and also manage it during hormones fluctuations during different times of the month.

 “The social scenario prevalent in India sees patients denying when diagnosed with asthma and prefer ‘less fearsome’ terms like bronchitis, common cold, stated Dr. H B Chandrashekar, Pulmonologist.

Women hospitalized are 19 per 1 lakh versus 14 per 1 lakh men. This indicates women need to seriously go for prompt follow up and treatment, observed Dr. Paramesh.

Innhaled medication is recognized as the most preferred form of treatment worldwide. It can be safely used during pregnancy and post partum phases. Pulmonologist in the US and UK adopt inhalers as an integral part of asthma therapy. As opposed to oral therapy, inhalers are highly effective, safe and cost effective too. In India, several myths prevail for inhalation therapy and therefore use of oral corticosteroids is rampant.

When steroids are take as tablet or syrups, the dosage required is higher and results in maximum side effects. With the kind of dosages present in the inhalers, it is safe and devoid of side effects, said Dr Chandrashekar.