Respiratory disease in practice - 2016

Comment: Breathing new life into inhalers
Philip W Ind
pp 3-3
Welcome back, old and new readers of Respiratory disease in practice. This new issue contains three excellent reviews: recent developments in radiotherapy for lung cancer, management of chronic cough and, my personal favourite, the second part of Mark Sander’s fascinating and beautifully illustrated historical review of inhaler devices, which takes us back as far as the 1990s.

Radiotherapy for lung cancer: an overview and recent developments
Huiqi Yang & David Gilligan
pp 4-7
Radiotherapy is an integral part of lung cancer treatment in both curative and palliative settings – it improves local tumour control and overall survival, and helps to relieve local or metastatic symptoms. In stage I–II of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) radical radiotherapy alone, as an alternative to surgery, can achieve an overall five-year survival rate of 42%.3 In stage III (locally advanced disease) radiotherapy is often combined with chemotherapy in the radical treatment of both NSCLC and small cell lung cancer. Recent technological advances promise improved delivery of radiotherapy for lung cancer, while optimisation of radiotherapy schedules continues to be the focus of active research.

A historical review of inhaler devices
Mark Sanders
pp 8-11
Inhaler use can be traced back to ancient times, but the first published images of inhalers did not occur until 1654, and the first properly commercialised inhaler was invented by John Mudge in 1778. This review looks at how this new way of delivering medications spread into common use and how the associated medical science blossomed.

Assessment and treatment of chronic cough
Omar Usmani & Patricia Macedo
pp 12-15
Chronic cough is defined as a cough lasting eight weeks or longer. It accounts for 10% of all respiratory referrals to secondary care. Up to 20% of adults over their lifetime report having a chronic cough, and it is more common in women and in obese people. Patients often feel socially isolated and frustrated, having undergone numerous investigations by several doctors, with little or no improvement.

How Asthma UK can help you to help your patients
Colette Harris
pp 15-15
As asthma is a long-term condition, you need to feel confident that your patients can manage it inbetween their appointments. We know that people with asthma don’t always feel motivated to adhere to their medication, attend annual asthma reviews or follow written asthma action plans – all cornerstones of effective self-management. Common excuses that asthma patients give us include their concerns about the side effects of steroids; a lack of understanding and clarity about how, when and why to use their inhalers and not valuing their asthma review.