Eileen, age 62, was diagnosed with asthma in her early 40's. She is white British and works at a university as a finance officer. She is divorced with three adult children. At first she found it very difficult to manage her life as she suffered from very frequent asthma attacks. However over time she was able to learn how to self-manage her asthma through recognising the triggers in good time and to self-medicate early enough to prevent things from worsening, and nowadays she rarely has an asthma attack.

Margaret, age 62, was diagnosed with asthma at age 47. She is white British, married and worked as a statistician before retirement. Margaret had had a persistent cough for some time, and one day started feeling so breathless that she went to the hospital where she was told she had pneumonia, and was also suffering from asthma. At first she wasn't using the inhalers correctly and her condition was often unstable, but after a time she became more knowledgeable about how to manage the condition more effectively and is now rarely bothered by her asthma.

Charles, age 71, was diagnosed with asthma at age 40. He is white British and married with five adult children. He is now retired from his job as an engineer/manager in the car industry. Charles describes his asthma as very mild, and sometimes he forgets that he has the condition because he only experiences symptoms infrequently.

Gail, age 55, was diagnosed with asthma at age 40. Gail is white British, and is married with two adult children. She works in a medical centre. Gail experienced her first asthma episode during a particularly stressful time at work and eventually went to the doctor to see why she couldn't shake off a persistent cough that she had developed. The doctor diagnosed asthma and she was prescribed a reliever inhaler. Gail recently gave up smoking and has found that overall she feels healthier and her chest and lungs feel much clearer.

Peter, age 62, was diagnosed with asthma at age 45. He is white British and married with two adult children. He is a retired IT professional. Peter's symptoms vary in severity, sometimes mild, and at other times quite debilitating. For around nine months of the year Peter says he feels fine and can do more or less what he wants to do, but there are times when the asthma is more severe and his life becomes more restricted

Julie, age 68, was diagnosed with asthma at 40. She is white British and married with six adult children. She is a retired learning and management consultant. Her diagnosis came as a surprise as she hadn't realised it could develop later in life. At first she relied quite heavily on steroid based tablets, and a ventolin inhaler. Over the years however as newer medications were introduced she found it easier to keep control over her symptoms, which usually appear when she has a bad cold or respiratory infection.