When supporting a person with asthma it is important to consider the impact of comorbidities and how non-pharmacological management can improve health outcomes. 

1. Comorbidities commonly seen alongside asthma include rhinitis, sinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, obstructive sleep apnoea and hormonal disorders. They may share a common pathophysiological mechanism or phenotype and influence asthma control or treatment response. If they are considered to be making asthma symptoms worse, they should be treated.
2. Exposure to cigarette smoke – either directly or passively – decreases lung function, adversely affects long-term control with ICS, and increases the need for rescue medicines. Starting to smoke as a young person also increases their risk of developing asthma. All people with asthma or living with a person with asthma should be supported to stop smoking, which may require intensive interventions.
3. Evidence is limited for the impact of weight loss interventions on improving asthma control. Dietary and exercise-based programmes may be considered for adults and children who are in the obese BMI range, aiming for a weight loss of greater than 10 per cent, as this may improve asthma control, lung function and inflammation. 
4. The annual influenza vaccine can be administered free on the NHS for people with asthma who are receiving inhaled or tablet steroid treatment, or who have had a previous hospital admission due to their asthma. This is because if a person with asthma contracted flu, they would have a higher risk of complications. 
5. Breathing programmes (for example Buteyko and Papworth) that focus on breathing exercise and dysfunctional breathing can improve asthma symptoms and quality of life whilst reducing bronchodilator requirements for adults, although they have little effect on lung function. These programmes aim to reduce respiratory rate and promote techniques such as nasal diaphragmatic breathing. 
6. Alternative therapies such as fish oils and antioxidants have been suggested as approaches to improve asthma control by reducing inflammation and altering gut flora. A Cochrane review concluded that there was insufficient evidence to recommend fish oil supplementation for the treatment of asthma and interventional studies have shown that there is no link between supplementation with selenium, vitamin E12 or vitamin C13 and clinical benefits for people with asthma. Evidence from a Cochrane review found that in randomised control trials, mostly in adults, taking an oral vitamin D supplement in addition to standard asthma medication is likely to reduce severe asthma attacks, although it did not improve lung function or daily asthma symptoms.