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NDP: #thankssomuch

The Lovexair Foundation and Novartis have come together under a common cause on this World Asthma Day: informing about asthma and raising awareness about its true impact, both in the lives of patients

 

More than 3 million people in Spain suffer from asthma, an underdiagnosed and poorly controlled disease in many cases that has no cure.

 

– At the gates of World Pathology Day, specialists highlight its most striking figures and stress the strong impact it causes both in the quality of life of patients and in their environment

 

– Dr. Lorena Soto: “tobacco smoke and high levels of air pollution have caused an increase in cases of respiratory allergies in our country, where every year 7.000 people die from diseases caused by pollution”

 

– The Lovexair Foundation and Novartis come together to commemorate World Asthma Day with the launch of the #Graciasxtanto campaign, highlighting the role of all those involved in the detection and control of this disease and patient support

 

Madrid, April 26, 2018 — Next week is World Asthma Day, a chronic and worrisome respiratory pathology that has a notable impact on the quality of life of those who suffer from it and that of their environment. The disease, which is characterized by inflammation and obstruction of the bronchi, preventing air from reaching the lungs correctly, affects approximately 5% of the population worldwide, or more than 350 million people1, and only in Spain. It has a prevalence of 3 million people2. Of this number, 10% are children between the ages of 6 and 7 and 9% are adolescents between the ages of 13 and 14, being the childhood pathology that causes the most hospitalizations and school absences.

 

Within the framework of the World Day, the experts put on the table the main indicators produced by the pathology, as relevant as underdiagnosis in 50% of patients and poor control of symptoms in between 60% and 70% of patients. cases. In this regard, in our country it is estimated that around 80.000 people diagnosed with severe asthma do not have it well controlled4. Currently, there are treatments that with an appropriate diagnosis allow to control the disease, but there is no cure.

 

A recent Novartis survey of 1.333 patients, 'Still Fighting for Breath'5, revealed that 94% of patients with severe allergic asthma (including children and adults) are unable to fully control their disease. In addition, the research found a significant discrepancy between “perceived” and “actual” asthma control, with almost half (46%) of the patients surveyed considering themselves “controlled”, a significant difference from the 6% of patients who were considered “truly controlled”.

 

In this regard, Dr. Lorena Soto Retes, an allergist at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau's Pneumology and Allergy Service, states that “disclosure of the disease is the first step in reaching a correct diagnosis. If the patient is not diagnosed, she cannot take proper treatment. There are many asthmatics who do not know they have asthma because they associate their symptoms with allergic rhinitis, bronchitis or colds. This situation can mean higher healthcare costs, because the cost of uncontrolled asthma can be 10 times higher than that of controlled asthma. Asthma makes up 2% of healthcare spending in Spain”.

 

Asthma significantly affects the quality of life of both patients and their families and society, due to its chronic nature and the high socioeconomic cost it implies. In this sense, half of the patients participating in the survey (51%) determined that asthma negatively affects their self-esteem and it was revealed that 50% had been diagnosed with some psychological pathology due to asthma: anxiety at 40% and depression at 28%5. After Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma is the respiratory disease that causes the greatest number of days absent from work.

 

Dr. Soto puts five key areas on the table when evaluating the quality of life of patients: “lost school days, in childhood, and lost work days, in adulthood; decreased normal activity at home, work, school, exercise, or leisure; sleep disturbance; The modification of the activity plans of the caregivers, and the burden of the disease itself, such as the frequency of the symptoms, the use of medication, hospital admissions or visits to the emergency room, are key to analyzing the affectation they suffer people with asthma.

 

To control and/or avoid poor control of the disease, it is very important to tackle two of its main risk factors: environmental contamination and tobacco. According to the expert, “tobacco smoke and high levels of air pollution are irritating to the lungs. 7.000 people die every year in Spain from diseases caused by air pollution. And it is that climate change and pollution are harmful to health. In addition, climate change, noticeable in atypical winters, with cold temperatures alternating with spring temperatures and low precipitation, added to the effects of pollution, is causing an increase in cases of respiratory allergies in our country.

 

Dr. José Miguel Rodríguez González-Moro, head of the Pneumology Service at the Príncipe de Asturias University Hospital and member of the Lovexair Foundation Advisory Board, explains that "despite experiencing asthma first hand, the role of the patient is also very important when it comes to guaranteeing adherence to treatment and helping other patients to understand and live with their disease”. For this reason, “actions aimed at increasing the knowledge that patients have about their disease, in this case bronchial asthma, are essential to guarantee adequate control of it. The patient demands more and more information, more knowledge of his disease, which, in the case of asthma, a chronic, frequent disease, with variability of symptoms and that requires skill in inhaled treatment is even more important”.

 

Another way to raise awareness: say thank you

 

The Lovexair Foundation and Novartis have come together under a common cause on this World Asthma Day: to inform about asthma and raise awareness about its true impact, both in the lives of patients and in those around them. To this end, they have launched the #Graciasxtanto campaign, highlighting the role of all the actors involved in the detection, management and treatment of asthma, as well as those who support those affected, the channels that carry out dissemination work around the disease and the patients themselves.

 

#Graciasxtanto develops a chain of thanks that highlights the role of patients, family members, educators, patient associations, doctors and nurses, researchers, the media and society in daily living with asthma. To spread this gratitude, a testimonial video has been made in which various links in this chain have participated, and which convey their emotions and experience. In addition, as part of the campaign, the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau will host a space at its facilities on May 8 where visitors can collect information on asthma and convey their "thank you" in a very special way.

 

Dr. Soto highlights the importance of carrying out actions like this, "of great importance because they facilitate the first essential step, dissemination, and that, in addition, they help to increase the training of all health professionals involved in the care of the people with asthma. In this sense, Dr. Rodríguez considers that "it is an original, direct campaign, with an impact on social networks, very visual and that will reach the entire population."

 

Dr. Àngels Costa, head of Patient Relations at Novartis, conveys Novartis's commitment to researching solutions for the unresolved medical needs of patients with respiratory pathologies such as asthma or COPD: "Novartis maintains a constant commitment to the R+D+i in diseases such as asthma, a pathology that causes a strong impact on the quality of life of both those who suffer from it and their environment, who see how their daily routine changes due to the needs and care required by the pathology” . On this level, the expert explains that “this commitment goes far beyond research. Proof of this is the promotion of awareness actions such as this campaign, since we consider it essential to raise awareness among the population about asthma and its true affectation and, in this case, value the role of all the actors who live with the disease and support the patient. We found it very necessary and exciting to promote a space in which everyone could see their role reflected and feel valued, and this is what #Graciasxtanto achieves”.

 

Highlighted

Bousquet J, Mantzouranis E, Cruz AA, Ait-Khaled N, Baena-Cagnani CE, Bleecker ER, et al. Uniform definition of asthma severity, control, and exacerbations: document presented for the World Health Organization Consultation on Severe Asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010;126:926-38.

 

CIBERES: Network biomedical research center for respiratory diseases. Available in: http://www. ciberes.org/

 

Carvajal-Urueña I, et al. Geographical variations in the prevalence of asthma symptoms in Spanish children and adolescents. International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) phase III Spain. Arch Bronconeumol. 2005; 41:659-66.

 

GEMA 2009. Spanish Guide for Asthma Management. J InvestigAllergolClinImmunol.2010; 20(Suppl 1): 1-59.

 

Katsaounou P, Count LG, Kroegel C et al. The challenges of living with severe asthma in Europe. Presented at ERS International

Congress 2017.

 

Barranco, Pilar and Quirce, Santiago. Severe asthma. Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (SEAIC). 2013.

 

About Novartis

 

Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) provides innovative healthcare solutions tailored to the needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis has a broad portfolio of products to address these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar medicines, and vision care. Novartis has global leadership positions in each of these areas. In 2017, the Group achieved sales of USD 49.100 billion and invested approximately USD 9.000 billion in R&D activities. Novartis Group companies have approximately 122.000 employees. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, you can visit the websites http://www.novartis.com y http://novartis.es/

 

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