As one of the country’s best-known fitness gurus, dieting queen Rosemary Conley has helped thousands of people to shed the pounds and shape up.
But despite teaching countless exercise classes and regularly hitting the gym herself, surprisingly, Rosemary has suffered from severe asthma for most of her life and says she’s lucky to still be alive.
“It is something I’ve always known could kill me, so I take it very seriously,” says Rosemary, 75, who was diagnosed with asthma when she was only two. “
My lungs were so under-developed that the doctors told my parents I probably wouldn’t survive beyond the age of 10.”
Her breathing was so poor that when she was eight, she spent three months being observed in a children’s hospital, only to be discharged with a liquid inhaler that had to last her an entire month.
“Each puff of medicine was precious,” recalls Rosemary, who lives in Leicestershire. “I spent most of my childhood looking on from the sidelines as there was so much I couldn’t do.”
Luckily for Rosemary, as her lungs developed and medicine advanced, her asthma became less of an issue, but she insists that the reason she hasn’t been more ill is because she monitors her condition regularly and goes for regular check-ups.
“The last time I had a serious asthma attack was in my 20s. I was watching a cricket match on a freshly mowed lawn and something about that grass really aggravated my lungs. I can still remember the terror of trying to breathe.”
Ever since then, Rosemary has been scrupulous about keeping on top of the condition and now takes four inhalers a day, some which help to prevent attacks and others that alleviate the symptoms.
Severe asthma affects 200,000 people in the UK and is the most serious and life-threatening form. Someone with severe asthma struggles to manage their symptoms even with high doses of medication.
“We don’t understand why some people get asthma and why some people’s asthma becomes more severe and is more difficult to treat. We will keep pushing for more research into this area,” says Dr Andy Whittamore, clinical lead at charity Asthma + Lung UK.
Four years ago, Rosemary was also diagnosed with the chronic lung condition bronchiectasis which causes the airways to become damaged, and can result in excessive mucus, uncontrollable coughing, fatigue and regular chest infections.
On a more hopeful note, Rosemary has recently been given a new lease of life thanks to biologics, a type of drug developed to treat some severe asthmatics following research funded by Asthma + Lung UK.
For the last two months, she has been prescribed the medication, and the effects have been astounding. “My breathing is so much better now, and surprisingly, it has really reduced my bronchiectasis symptoms too, which I wasn’t expecting,” she says.
Another plus side to the medication is that Rosemary no longer has to take as many steroid tablets as she was prescribed. Steroids can be a lifesaver for people with asthma, but they do come with a myriad of side effects. For Rosemary, these included a racing heart, thinning skin and terrible insomnia.
“These biologics drugs are like a laser-guided missile compared to steroids that could be likened to cluster bombs as they come with so many unwanted side effects,” says Ian Pavord, Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Oxford.
“The problem is that only a fifth of the people who are eligible for these drugs are accessing them as so many people with severe asthma don’t realise that biologics exist.”
“Biologic treatments used for asthma are also known as monoclonal antibodies. These are specialist treatments using antibodies which can target specific cells or chemicals in the body,” explains Dr Whittamore.
“Monoclonal antibodies can treat some types of severe asthma by helping to stop processes that cause lung inflammation. This is inflammation that may be caused by allergies or by high levels of a cell in the body called an eosinophil.”
Medication aside, Dr Whittamore stresses that while the most important thing people with asthma or lung conditions can do is to take their medication as prescribed, exercise is also important, where possible.
“Being more active helps you to use more of your lungs and to use them more efficiently – which can help to reduce chest symptoms,” he says.
“It is also good for general fitness, can help with weight control and boost mental health – all of which can have a positive impact on asthma and other lung conditions.”
Clearly, exercise has never been a trigger for Rosemary’s asthma. In fact, she believes that her weekly regime of two exercise classes, three gym sessions, a ballet class and a daily walk, have helped to keep her going.
“Whenever my consultant gives me a peak flow test [a measurement of how quickly air can be exhaled from the lungs] he is always amazed that I am able to go to the gym and spent so many years ice skating,” she says.
“He has been blunt about the fact that if it wasn’t for my fitness levels and the proactive way in which I look after my lungs, that I probably wouldn’t still be here.
“It’s something I won’t ever let myself forget.”
- Rosemary is an ambassador for Asthma + Lung UK ( asthmaandlung.org.uk; 0300 222 5800), the leading UK charity supporting those with a lung condition. More people die from lung conditions and asthma in the UK than in any other Western European country and deaths have doubled in the last 20 years. The charity is calling for the Government to invest more research into lung conditions and new treatments.
