My name is Russell Winwood; I’m 59 years old and have been living with severe COPD for the past 14 years. Nowadays I live very well with my COPD, but it hasn’t always been like this.

Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is a hereditary condition caused by one of many mutations in the SERPINA1 gene, resulting in reduced levels or absence of the alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) protein.

PCRS advocates that: 

Winter brings predictable surges in respiratory illness and pressure across urgent and emergency care. This paper sets out a practical, primary care-led framework to reduce avoidable demand by acting earlier on respiratory risk. We describe seven interventions:

This summary infographic provides an overview of the new MART therapy which has been licensed for children of 6 - 11 years old.

World COPD Day, this year taking place on the 19th November, is an annual global initiative run by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). World COPD Day aims to raise awareness and present new knowledge and novel therapeutic strategies for COPD worldwide.

PCRS will be holding two webinars on Implementing AIR and MART therapy in children (6+), young people and adults. With new licenses coming in quickly for these inhaler treatments, it is important to implement them effectively, in the appropriate age groups. 

This year's Respiratory Leadership Programme commenced with a workshop in June (6th - 7th) focusing on unlocking the skills to turn ideas into action to drive real change. A follow up workshop in November will support you to embed your learning.

We are pleased to launch a new series of resources on health inequalities, which bring you everything you need to know about caring for people with respiratory disease who are impacted by health inequalities and severe mental illness.

In this PCRS Health Inequalities podcast Leslie Borrill and Rebecca Jacobs discuss suicide and suicide prevention in long-term respiratory conditions. They cover:

In this PCRS Health Inequalities podcast Noreen Grant, Lisa Cummings and Aaron Foulds (PCRS patient reference group representative) talk about the impact of respiratory disease on mental health. They cover:

In this PCRS Health Inequalities podcast Katherine Hickman (PCRS executive chair, Kaniksha Aggarwal, Martin Sutcliffe and Sue Wheatcroft discuss respiratory disease and mental health in the context of the UK prison setting. They touch on:

The new BTS/NICE/SIGN guideline, Asthma: Diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management (NG245) has placed fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) early in the diagnostic algorithm, which has caused some concern.

Point-of-care testing of C-reactive protein (CRP) for the acute assessment of worsening symptoms in people known to have COPD can safely reduce the use of antibiotics and could help improve the diagnostic approach towards someone presenting in such a crisis.

With the summer holidays fast approaching, many will be planning trips abroad and booking flights for warm and sunny destinations. However, flying can be a very challenging way to travel for many people with respiratory disease.