Alex Wilkinson

Respiratory consultant with special interests in education, tobacco and climate crisis.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@bigcatdoc @BTSrespiratory @NHSEngland @PCRSUK @IPCRG @ginasthma @asthmauk @JohnathanLaird @TCapper78 @EdforHealth @inhalers4u @COPDdoc The ReCiPe 2016 end-point characterisation factors are referenced in paper. Human health impacts of the greenhouse gases are 3 to 5 orders of magnitude greater than all other impacts combined, depending on time horizon. Time integrated species loss also worse overall for MDI.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

Got some spare time during lockdown? Why not complete this survey and help fight Coronavirus? https://t.co/AiP5e8CNna

[British Lung Foundation @lunguk]

(3/3) Our medical director Dr Nick Hopkinson (@COPDdoc ) recently wrote a blog on NICE guidance for the use of greener asthma inhalers. Find out more: https://t.co/JReYxlnteR

[British Lung Foundation @lunguk]

(2/3) If you want to talk about different inhalers and which ones are greenest, you can get advice from a chemist or your doctor who can help you choose the inhaler which is right for you.

[British Lung Foundation @lunguk]

(1/3) Yesterday there were lots of news stories on the effects inhalers have on the environment. The most important thing to remember is that people with asthma should use the inhalers which are most appropriate for them and manages their symptoms.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@Agusta88 @drjnsmith @ecoboyatheart @BTSchair @drlaurajane @lungsatwork @COPDdoc @DrChrisNewman @DoctorsXr You're absolutely right that salbutamol costs go up, but this additional cost is overwhelmed by savings on more expensive combination asthma products. We make this point in the paper as well.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

Our paper on the carbon footprint of Inhalers and their costs is out today: https://t.co/MNbCy4QcsW
Lots more info at https://t.co/QqNvstmFsn
@drjnsmith @ecoboyatheart @BTSchair @drlaurajane @lungsatwork @COPDdoc @DrChrisNewman @DoctorsXr

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@LittleNinjaUK @SarahPeel2025 @Mammacoffee @UCL_CoPro @LancetCountdown @lunguk @SusHealthcare @sduhealth @miceheath @HCS_Fellows @helenbevan @Drjamesszy @DrABarnesFIPEM @Stevekeevil @tolanAHP Been encouraging pharma for years without success to work on inhalers which don't contain greenhouse gases but still easy to use. Ideally refillable and recyclable with dose counter. We need patient power to get pharma to change. Hope this teenager will help me call for change.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@LittleNinjaUK @SarahPeel2025 @Mammacoffee @UCL_CoPro @LancetCountdown @lunguk @SusHealthcare @sduhealth @miceheath @HCS_Fellows @helenbevan @Drjamesszy @DrABarnesFIPEM @Stevekeevil @tolanAHP This is fair criticism and I'm sorry. Knowing carbon footprint can inform use , eg if that child knows it contains greenhouse gases they can return it to pharmacy after use, thus reducing greenhouse gas release. Even when used inhalers have residual greenhouse gas inside.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@MahyarSaremi @TCapper78 This is a fair criticism. I do wish getting papers published didn't always take quite so long!

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@SandraH51503424 @lynnelsey Absolutely. Dose counters on all inhalers would be another simple and very helpful thing to do.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@rosamund_ElsFdn @SarahPeel2025 Absolutely agree. Finding an inhaler that is effective that you can use is paramount. Occasionally two treatments are equally effective though, in which case surely we should choose the one with the smallest environmental impact.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@THE1stMACK @frankendodo @bbcpress @Cambridge_Uni Totally agree air pollution is a more important issue and it would be far better to cut air pollution and prevent these lung diseases in the first place.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@Agusta88 @drjnsmith @ecoboyatheart @BTSchair @drlaurajane @lungsatwork @COPDdoc @DrChrisNewman @DoctorsXr The plan to move to more environmentally friendly inhalers is part of NHS long term plan (which I support as NHS doctor) which was published earlier this year. We analysed some carbon and financial implications of this plan.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@Agusta88 @drjnsmith @ecoboyatheart @BTSchair @drlaurajane @lungsatwork @COPDdoc @DrChrisNewman @DoctorsXr All patients on inhalers should have at least annual review. Patients who are interested in switching or any one who finds using their inhaler difficult should discuss with the GP/nurse at that appointment about whether alternatives may be better.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@LittleNinjaUK Climate crisis also worsens effects of air pollution eg by increased wild fire and increasing effects of ground level ozone. Even if can switch inhalers, users can cut there carbon footprint by recycling used inhalers. Always some greenhouse gas left in canister.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@LittleNinjaUK @SarahPeel2025 @SusHealthcare We didn't cover air pollution in this research, but you're absolutely right. Air pollution is a much more important issue and prevention is always better than treating the problem later.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@LittleNinjaUK @SarahPeel2025 @SusHealthcare Sorry you feel blamed by this. Certainly not our intention. This is a very unfortunate BBC headline, as it implies that people should stop using inhalers like they should stop eating meat, as if it were a lifestyle choice. This is clearly untrue.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

@Hurtledto60 @drjnsmith @ecoboyatheart @BTSchair @drlaurajane @lungsatwork @COPDdoc @DrChrisNewman @DoctorsXr Sorry to have made you feel guilty. Certainly not my intention to make any inhaler user feel guilty, but many are unaware that, for instance, recycling it after use can help to further cut carbon footprint. Even when empty it contains greenhouse gas.

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

2/2 the politician, the practical anthropologist, must find the means for their actual solution”. - Rudolf Virchow,

[Alex Wilkinson @DrAlexWilkinson]

“Medicine is a social science and politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale. Medicine as a social science, as the science of human beings, has the obligation to point out problems and to attempt their theoretical solution; 1/2