United Kingdom-based Bedfont Scientific, which is celebrating four decades in business this year, is recognizing World Asthma Day on May. The company manufactures NObreath FeNO Test, a fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) breath analysis monitoring system that provides a quick, easy, and non-invasive solution to asthma patients.
Asthma affects an estimated 334 million people around the globe, including 5.4 million in the United Kingdom. The goal of World Asthma Day is to draw attention to these numbers and raise awareness about the symptoms and impact that this respiratory condition has on everyday lives.
Concerns about asthma have been on the rise this year after recent research unveiled some significant statistics about the condition. Asthma UK reported that more than 120,000 asthma patients in the United Kingdom are at risk of wrongly prescribed medication. Similarly, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published the findings of a study reporting that 30 percent of asthma patients suspect they might have been misdiagnosed.
“My eldest daughter was recently seen by the GP because we suspected she might have asthma,” Natasha Smith, who is concerned about the health of her two children, said in a press release. “Reading the figures in the news recently published by Asthma UK and NICE has only increased my concerns about my daughter’s welfare. If a test like the NObreath’s was readily available at the doctors, it would put my mind at ease.”
Bedfont Scientific researchers believe that FeNO measurements offer the most adequate way to monitor airway inflammation in asthma patients, representing a significant advance in the field. The NObreath FeNO test is a user-friendly system that assesses patient adherence to treatment, and enables respiratory specialists to prescribe their patients the right levels of medication.
The Nobreath FeNO test can also differentiate between asthma and other respiratory conditions, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma and COPD crossover syndrome (ACOS), resulting in fewer misdiagnoses.
“This can be used with patients who have respiratory symptoms, particularly with an unexplained cough, and we are looking for the possible cause,” said Specialist Respiratory Physiologist Louis Penhaligan of the Lung Function Laboratory in Llandough, U.K. “The FeNO breath test is used for an assessment of airway inflammation, for the assessment of the effectiveness of a treatment, for example, a bronchodilator and for the management of a disease, for example, asthma.”
Image Credits: Bedfont Scientific