Now, an online test to gauge asthma attack risk

A British health charity has launched a new online test which could help asthma patients gauge to what extent they are at risk from a serious attack.

The test, called 'Triple A: Avoid Asthma Attacks', asks simple questions about factors which have been linked to increasing the risk of an asthma attack that could lead to a hospital admission.

Its developer Asthma UK said the online test is aimed at reducing the number of deaths through asthma attacks, which claim three lives a day in the UK, the BBC News reported.

About 75 per cent of asthma-related emergency hospital admissions could be prevented through this test, it claimed.

Experts at the charity said those taking the test will fall into one of three categories, colour-coded like traffic lights. Red means the person runs a highly increased risk of a serious attack, while green would mean no increased risk.

Each category is linked to advice on how to control the symptoms and what to do if someone does have an attack.

Dr Samantha Walker, director of research and policy at Asthma UK said asthma attacks put someone in hospital every seven minutes and kill over 1,100 people every year.

"The test is designed to make people sit up, take notice and make changes to the way they manage their asthma if they are shown to be at an increased risk of an asthma attack.

"This kind of test for asthma has never been done before but we're confident it will prove an effective motivator to help reduce frightening and often unnecessary hospital admissions."

Meanwhile, the Royal College of Physicians is launching a 12-month review of asthma deaths in the UK.

The review will collect details of all asthma deaths from hospitals, GPs and families to try to identify how to improve care and reduce deaths in the future.

"The review is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to achieve a step change in reducing deaths and we urge all healthcare professionals to take part," Neil Churchill, chief executive officer at Asthma UK, added.