John, age 23, was diagnosed with asthma at age 10. He is white British, a professional rugby player and currently lives with his parents. John was finding himself feeling breathless when playing sports and as there is asthma in his close family it was easy to recognise the symptoms. He uses inhalers mainly during winter months, but he feels it's important not to let asthma rule your life, and he has been able to continue to play rugby at the highest professional level by ensuring that he manages his asthma correctly.

David, age 18, was diagnosed with asthma at age 5. He is white British and currently lives at home with his parents and his brother. He is at school studying for A-Levels and plans to go to university. David's mother thinks that his asthma was triggered by a really bad cold. His asthma is mild and he is not on regular medication. He sees a specialist nurse once a year for check-ups.

Nicola, age 24, was diagnosed with asthma at age 7. She is white British, and lives with other young professionals. She studied journalism and public relations and now works for a PR consultancy. Nicola has moderate asthma and needs to take her inhaler everyday to keep her symptoms under control. In her experience most people know about asthma.

Alastair, age 31, was diagnosed with asthma at age 10. He is white British, married and works in the police force. Before diagnosis, Alastair found himself getting breathless during or after playing sports. The doctor prescribed a preventer and reliever inhaler. He only experiences symptoms during the summer and describes his asthma as mild.

Faisil, age 33, was diagnosed with asthma at age 3. He is British Pakistani, single and works as a civil servant. Faisil's childhood and teenage years were difficult because having the condition sometimes set him apart from the other boys, particularly because he was unable to participate in sports. As an adult he has become more accepting of the condition and is able to self -manage his symptoms for most of the time, but there are aspects of having asthma that continue to impact negatively on his life.

Philip, age 32, was diagnosed with severe asthma at age 6. He is white Irish, single and works as a web developer. His asthma is generally only triggered by hay fever and so is usually at its worse during summer. He used to use preventative inhalers as well as antihistamine medication but as he got older he stopped taking regular medication and is generally symptom free. If he feels breathless or wheezy he uses ventolin.

Mary, age 51, was diagnosed with severe asthma at age 7. She is white Irish, and has three adult children who live independently. She finds her asthma restrictive and tiring. She works as a part-time shop assistant and can work at a time of the day when she feels better. Mary has some concerns over her future living with asthma.

Belinda, age 53, was diagnosed with asthma aged 1. She is white British, married and works as an actor and writer. She is also a Humanist Funeral Celebrant. Belinda has not had an asthma attack for ten years, but now has a condition with symptoms similar to those of asthma, called Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis (ABPA).

Mary, age 73, was diagnosed with asthma at age 6. She is white British, widowed and lives alone. She has one adult son, and has worked in medical research and counselling. Mary says that asthma medication has improved a lot since she was a child. She finds swimming very helpful and goes twice a week. She feels it is important to focus on what you are able to do, rather than what you cannot.

Jan, age 46, was diagnosed with asthma at age 4. She is white British, lives with her partner and works as a freelance Business Psychologist. Jan's childhood was disrupted by regular asthma attacks. As a young adult the symptoms lessened and she thought she had grown out of it', but in her mid 20's her asthma flared up again. Nowadays Jan feels able to manage her asthma effectively and although she occasionally has attacks, she feels that the preventative medication she takes regularly helps to keep things under control.