Fighting the panic of chronic breathlessness

For those living with chronic breathlessness, day-to-day breathing can be like drawing oxygen through a straw. They can also experience breathing crises, over and above their normal difficulties, often presenting to emergency departments as a result.

But research suggests that 50 per cent of these presentations could be avoided if people could better manage their symptoms at home. The only problem is, if you are struggling to breathe, deciding when you need a hospital, isn’t easy.

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Speakers:

-Dr Tim Luckett, senior lecturer in the Faculty of Health at the University of Technology Sydney

– Sue Griffin, breathlessness sufferer

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Image: ‘Adhering the pulse oximeter’ by Quinn Dombrowski on Flickr