New smartphone app to help asthma sufferers

A unique smartphone app to help people with asthma manage their condition has been developed in part by lung experts at the Nottingham Respiratory Research Unit.

The MyAsthma app has been launched on the iTunes App Store and is available to download free of charge.

The app has been devised by pharmaceutical company GSK with asthma researchers at the Nottingham Respiratory Research Unit, based at The University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Currently, 5.4 million people in the UK receive treatment for asthma, including 1.1 million children.

The MyAsthma app allows people with asthma to track and manage their condition. By capturing environmental, pollen and activity data, the app can allow users to record and analyse factors that seem to trigger their asthma. The app can also be used by carers who can track up to five people's conditions on their smartphone.

Associate clinical professor and lead researcher on the new app, Dr Dominick Shaw, said: "This app has the potential to be a significant step forward in asthma self-management. It will help people take control of their own asthma by improving their understanding of what triggers poor asthma control. Good self-management in asthma has many benefits and is associated with improved outcomes, including fewer attacks, unplanned primary care visits and hospital admissions."

Speaking about the collaboration with the Nottingham Respiratory Research Unit to develop MyAsthma, Kai Gait, Global Digital Director, GSK, said: "GSK's goal is to help all people with asthma live every breath. We believe that enabling patients to take control of their disease is one of the best ways to help them achieve improved health so that asthma doesn't need to stand in their way. With MyAsthma our aim has been to use advances in smartphone and connected technologies to advance asthma patients' understanding of their condition, but also to help them share their information with their healthcare team. GSK is proud to have partnered with the Nottingham research team to develop the first CE marked medical device application for people with asthma, demonstrating our commitment to furthering the understanding of respiratory diseases."