WHILE most of us welcome the prospect of hot summer days, they're dreaded by millions of asthma sufferers.

A large proportion of the UK's 5.2 million asthmatics, of which one million are children, find their symptoms - coughing, wheezing and difficulty in breathing - are triggered either by warmer weather, hay fever or seasonally higher levels of pollution in the air.

But while many sufferers successfully manage their symptoms with medication - most commonly inhalers - the Asthma UK charity claims at least 60,000 people a year are forced to seek emergency treatment in hospital because they've been poorly advised about handling their condition on a day-to-day basis.

Mikis Euripides, Asthma UK assistant director of policy and public affairs, says: "Although asthma is serious and widespread - there are about 1,400 deaths a year - most people shouldn't need to be admitted to hospital.

"We believe better care could cut deaths by 90 per cent, and slash three-quarters of the annual 80,000 hospital admissions."

Sarah Austin, respiratory nurse specialist for Worcestershire Royal Hospital, said the GP surgeries in Worcester provide good support for asthmatics.

Most have practice nurses who have done specific asthma training and who run clinics for their asthmatic patients.

But she said people who have asthma are not as knowledgeable about their condition as they could be, and accept a higher level of symptoms (such as wheezing) than she and her colleagues would ideally like.

"If asthma is controlled, people should have no night time waking with coughing or wheezing. They should not be breathless or wheezy when they wake in the mornings, they should be able to go to school or work and should need to use their reliever' medication less than once per day," she said.

"If people are getting regular symptoms it indicates that their asthma is not correctly controlled and they should see their GP or asthma nurse to have changes made to their preventer' medication.

"Many (but not all) asthmatics may find that their asthma is triggered by exposure to allergens. House dust mite is the most common allergen and cat is the most potent common pet allergen. If asthmatics are aware of their trigger factors, then avoiding those triggers is sensible.

"The combination of severe food allergy (such as a peanut allergy) and poorly controlled asthma puts a small minority of people at high risk of life-threatening anaphylaxis on exposure to their food allergen. It is particularly important that these asthmatics have well controlled asthma.

"Cigarette smoking is a huge problem for asthmatics. If people with asthma smoke, not only can it upset their short-term asthma management, but it also exposes them to a huge risk of developing smoking-related lung disease (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in later life.

"If people's asthma does deteriorate, they need to see a GP quickly, to get things back under control.

"If ever asthmatics are too breathless to hold a conversation or are very breathless and wheezy and getting no benefit from their reliever' medication, they should seek immediate medical attention.

CASE STUDY: JAN ROBERTS, AGE 56

Retired teacher Jan Roberts, from Tenbury Wells, has suffered from asthma since she was a child - but was only diagnosed when she was in her early 30s.

"I believe I have had it all my life," she said.

"I was diagnosed because I was coughing a lot and I read an article in the paper. I was told by a doctor I had it and then started visiting the asthma clinic in Tenbury, which has helped me ever since."

Mrs Roberts controls her condition with inhalers, using a preventer (which is brown) which she uses every day, and the reliever (which is blue) which should be carried at all times in case there is a problem.

Her condition is triggered by a number of factors - but, she said, they were different for each person and depended on the time of year.

"Certain foods such as dairy products can trigger off my asthma and I have to watch what I eat. If there is also a change of temperature, that can affect me. If I walk from a hot room into a cold room it seems to get worse. But also pollen, dust, hay making, hop spraying, pollution and smoke affect me."

But one of the worse triggers for Mrs Roberts is oil seed rape, which has started to be grown more in this area over the last few years.

"My asthma is very mild compared with some people, and mine is very controlled. I can pace myself in life and can take my time. But if you are working it can cause problems. I have found how to control my asthma.

"But in summer asthmatics are very prone to colds and this can turn to bronchitis."