An evidence-based guide to smoking cessation therapies

Smoking is the single most preventable cause of premature mortality (Department of Health (DH), 1998; 2000). In recent decades, the UK government has introduced a range of initiatives to reduce...

An overview of prescribing practice and non-pharmacological treatments in COPD

The main goals of COPD treatment include controlling symptoms, and improving exercise capacity and lung function, while preventing and reducing the occurrence of exacerbations, hospital admissions and...

What is bronchitis and how is it managed?

One of the primary symptoms of acute bronchitis is a cough, which can be productive or unproductive. Other symptoms or clinical signs that may suggest lower respiratory tract infection and no...

Managing smoking cessation in primary care

The revised NICE (2021) guidelines (NG209): Tobacco: preventing uptake, promoting quitting and treating dependence, recommended greater flexibility and clearer guidance in the use of nicotine...

Optimising asthma care and greener inhaler prescribing

Overreliance on short-acting bronchodilators (SABA) can indicate poor disease control. Three or more days a week with any need for SABA is a pragmatic threshold for uncontrolled asthma (NICE, 2017)....

Exercise and breathing in rehabilitating long COVID

In exploring what effective rehabilitation would look like, Cheng et al (2021) recommend a comprehensive programme encompassing the promotion of functional recovery, as they note that this has been...

Seasonal asthma: should it be managed differently?

Asthma is an inflammatory condition where the airways have become hyperreactive in response to a trigger (eg house dust mite, pollen, cats, viruses and temperature changes). The inflammatory cascade...

Prescribing for respiratory disease

This original research study, published in the journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases, aimed to provide an overview evaluation of the clinical safety of delaying antibiotic commencement for upper...

Prescribing e-cigarettes

Remote consultations, prescribing and virtual teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic

Before the pandemic, the modernisation of the NHS included digitalisation and the use of remote consultations (NHS UK, 2019; Welsh Government, 2019; NHS Digital, 2020). There had been a slow but...

Small steps, big changes

I suppose I should begin this editorial by letting you know I have now had my second COVID-19 vaccination! I know I am part of a growing number of those afforded increased protection from the virus,...

Polypharmacy and multimorbidity

This Canadian review paper by Potempski and Bilimoria (2021) aimed to highlight the common phenomenon of polypharmacy in the light of the COVID-19 global pandemic. They begin by pointing out that...