Asthma

Asthma is the single most common chronic disease during childhood. Asthma starts very early in life in the majority of cases.

What is Asthma?

Asthma is a common lung condition that causes occasional breathing difficulties. It affects people of all ages and often starts in childhood, although it can also develop for the first time in adults.

Frequently asked questions

The main symptoms of asthma are:

  • a whistling sound when breathing (wheezing) breathlessness
  • a tight chest, which may feel like a band is tightening around it
  • coughing

The symptoms can sometimes get temporarily worse. This is known as an asthma attack.

Asthma can reduce the quality of life for the patient and puts a considerable financial strain on the health care provider as the condition is challenging to identify. Misdiagnosis and multiple unnecessary and costly clinical investigations and interventions are common.

Asthma is not a curable disease, however an early and accurate diagnosis and monitoring is very important for breathing assessment.

Conventional techniques to measure lung function, such as spirometry, are challenging in young children, as the child’s full cooperation is required to perform the test 1.

1. H.Hmeidi, S. Motamedi Fakhr, E.Chadwick et al. Tidal breathing parameters measured using structured light plethysmography in healthy children and those with asthma before and after bronchodilator, 2017.

Where does SLP fit in all of this?

SLP is a novel technique developed by academics & clinicians to determine the parameters of tidal breathing in a non-invasive and zero-contact environment.