"The common cold is the main reason …

… why people with asthma get bad attacks," says Professor Neil Barnes, spokesperson for the British Lung Foundation when new research was announced in August, 2008.

In the UK, respiratory disease is the second biggest killer. It is also the most commonly reported longterm illness in children and the third most commonly reported in adults. Gender matters here. One in 7 boys and 1 in 8 girls aged 2 - 15 report having long term respiratory illness in England.

Learn more at the British Lung Foundation, including gender differences in development of asthma (girls get it later and longer) and the often curable disease, COPD (one cause is polluted indoor air).

Inhalers May Increase the Chance of Heart Attack

You may have a greater chance of getting a heart attack or even die if you use an inhaler and you have the medical condition called COPD a new study shows. Chemicals in the inhaler may be the cause.

Those with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) have – in plain language - emphysema and chronic bronchitis. That means they often struggle to breathe. An inhaler is often the one thing they can use that helps. Study results are not conclusive but the authors of it “urged doctors to closely monitor patients who use the inhalers.”

COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. It “affects as many as 24 million Americans and kills more than 100,000 each year. It involves thickened and narrowed lung airways and excess mucous. Symptoms include persistent coughing and severe shortness of breath; smoking is a leading cause.

Patients describe COPD breathing problems as feeling like they're ‘living the entire day under water, unable to come to the surface,’ said Dr. Aaron Milstone of Vanderbilt University medical school.”

One major source of relief for those who suffer from COPD - or asthma, allergies and other respiratory conditions - is cleaner indoor air, where RSPs have been removed.