Adolescent asthma
Teenagers can often struggle (socially and in terms of timing) to take their asthma medication as prescribed.If you are a teenager with asthma, it is particularly important to make sure you understand the benefits of taking asthma medication as advised by the GP or Practice Nurse.
Failing to take asthma medication as advised can lead to a series of negative effects on your lifestyle. These include:
- Disturbed sleep and waking up at night
- Missing school and struggling with workload
- Limited physical activity, preventing you from taking part in sport and activities you enjoy
- Poor general health, which can interfere with social events
Taking medication regularly as prescribed will improve your level of asthma control. There are added benefits to maintaining good asthma control, such as:
- fewer asthma symptoms
- having more energy to tackle school work
- participating in sporting activities
If you are a teenager with asthma who currently smokes the best advice is to stop (even if you don't smoke very regularly). Smoking will not only make your asthma worse, but it stops asthma drugs working effectively.