Doctors assess the severity of asthma in a patient (particularly eosinophilic asthma, which is associated with high levels of a white blood cell called eosinophils) by measuring the levels of eosinophils in blood or sputum (phlegm).

Dr. Durrington, who is also a researcher at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, revealed that these levels naturally change over the course of a day, so if doctors timed appointments around these variations, they would get a much more accurate picture of a person’s asthma.

Her research could help the medical profession determine whether there is an optimum time of day to use inhalers and take other asthma medication, so it has the best chance of keeping symptoms under control.

Dr. Durrington said: “Asthma can have a huge impact on people, leaving them coughing, wheezing, gasping for breath and putting them at risk of having a life-threatening asthma attack. It is really exciting to think my research could play a part in making things better for people with asthma, helping doctors assess if patient’s symptoms are at their worst depending on the time of day and identifying exactly when people should take their inhalers to keep them well.”

Dr. Erika Kennington, Head of Research at Asthma UK, which funded the study, said: “There is still so much we don’t know about asthma, and studies like these are a vital step in understanding the disease and ultimately leading to us finding a cure for this dreadful illness that causes the deaths of three people every day in the UK. But despite the fact that 5.4 million people in the UK have asthma, only two per cent of all medical research funding in the UK is spent on research into respiratory diseases."