1st July 2025 marks the 4th World Bronchiectasis Day — a global initiative to raise much-needed awareness about this chronic and often misunderstood lung condition that affects hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. At Breathing Matters, we are proud to support this important day and to stand alongside the bronchiectasis community in advocating for greater research, understanding and support.
What is Bronchiectasis?
Bronchiectasis is a long-term lung disease where the airways become abnormally widened, leading to a build-up of mucus. This can cause repeated chest infections, breathlessness, chronic coughing and fatigue. The condition can affect people of all ages and often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years.
Despite its growing prevalence, especially among older adults and people with underlying lung conditions, bronchiectasis remains under-researched and under-recognised. There is currently no cure, and treatment options are limited — often relying on physiotherapy, antibiotics and infection management. Bronchiectasis can affect daily activities due to fatigue and breathlessness.
Why Research Matters
We believe research is key to improving lives. By supporting vital research, we are working towards a future where bronchiectasis is no longer a hidden illness — but one that is properly understood, treated and ultimately preventable. Researchers at UCL / UCLH have been involved in research that led to several new findings that were published over the past twelve months. These include the following:
- A paper published in the top respiratory journal (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine) in July 2024 looked at the overlap between bronchiectasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a common disease of the airways caused by smoking. The results showed that many patients with bronchiectasis were inaccurately labelled as also having COPD; but patients who were accurately described as having both conditions were more likely to have exacerbations and end up in hospital. (Polverino et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2024 Jul 1;210(1):119-127. doi: 10.1164/rccm.202309-1614OC.) Read more on this here.
- Professor Brown – our lung infection lead – published an editorial in the European Respiratory Journal, reviewing the findings of Perea et al regarding the important role of interleukin (IL)-1β in bronchiectasis. The protein IL-1β is an important marker of inflammation that increases during active infection, and in this study the amount of IL-1β in the sputum reflected the severity of the bronchiectasis. Higher levels of sputum IL-1β was associated with more symptoms, poorer lung function and higher levels of infection. These findings indicate treating patients with bronchiectasis with drugs that block IL-1β could be beneficial. Continue reading here.
- Two studies from Bronch-UK—a UK-wide research consortium looking into bronchiectasis, with UCLH as a major contributor—were published. The first investigated the connection between the number and type of bacteria present in the bronchi (the tubes through which air reaches and is spread around the lung) of patients with bronchiectasis and how badly the disease affects them. The key findings were that the numbers of bacteria and the types of bacteria tended to be stable when samples from the same patient were measured repeatedly, and that having an infective exacerbation and antibiotics had limited effects on this. These findings contribute further to our understanding of infection of the bronchi in bronchiectasis and their relationship with clinical outcomes. Find out more here.
- A second study of over 1300 patients looked at the association of having bronchiectasis with psychological symptoms. The results showed that anxiety and depression are common in bronchiectasis, and are worse in people with more severe bronchiectasis, and predict patients whose health is more severely affected by the bronchiectasis as they were more likely to have exacerbations and be admitted to hospital. (ERJ Open Res.2025 May 27;11(3):00348-2024. doi: 10.1183/23120541.00348-2024.)
Overall, the papers published have given us much-needed detailed data on different aspects of bronchiectasis that will help contribute towards better care of patients with this condition in the future and hopefully lead to novel treatment approaches.
How You Can Help
This World Bronchiectasis Day, we invite you to:
- Learn the symptoms – Chronic cough, frequent lung infections, breathlessness and excessive mucus could be signs. Understanding the condition helps in managing it better. Learn more about bronchiectasis by visiting this page.
- Raise awareness – Share facts and stories on social media using the hashtags #WorldBronchiectasisDay2025 #BreathingMatters
- Support research – Donate to fund research into better treatments and, one day, a cure. You can donate here.
- Take part in clinical trials – If eligible, you could help shape the future of bronchiectasis care. Talk to your respiratory doctor to find out more.
- Come along to our events – We have regular charity stalls at UCLH and an annual Christmas Concert in London every December. Sign up to receive our newsletters or socials for more information.
Together, We Can Make a Difference
With your help, we can bring bronchiectasis out of the shadows. We can fund research that saves lives, raises awareness, supports patients and brings us closer to a world where no one has to live with this often-overlooked disease in silence.
Your support this World Bronchiectasis Day 2025 makes a real difference – thank you.