Research carried out by the National Asthma Campaign reveals that asthma seriously affects the quality of life of 1.4 million in the UK.
It shows that one-in-five of the UK's 3.4 million asthma suffers are heavily dependent on medication to get through each day.
Hundreds of thousands of people have problems walking upstairs or playing sport because of their condition.
They also experience a wide range of symptoms, including coughing, wheezing and tightness of the chest every single day and night of their lives.
Just 16% of the 800 people questioned as part of the study said they had mild asthma or few symptoms.
'Shocked'
The study reveals for the first time the effects of asthma on British people.
Anne Smith, chief executive of the National Asthma Campaign, described the findings as shocking.
"We are both shocked and saddened to find that for such a large number of people with asthma, the condition dominates their life to such a degree that it is having a major impact.
"People with asthma have a right to expect more from life with asthma," she said.
The National Asthma Campaign's chief medical adviser, Dr Martyn Partridge, said a combination of factors was to blame for the problem.
"We still need more research to understand why this is the case. Early analysis of this study suggests a possible combination of factors.
"It may be that health care professionals are not providing the advice and treatment needed for individuals to manage their asthma effectively from initial diagnosis.
"For others it may be that they are receiving the advice and treatment but not acting upon it, and for a significant majority of people with the most severe asthma, it may be that available medicines are simply not effectively treating their condition."
Guidelines
The National Asthma Campaign has called on the Department of Health to draw up guidelines on the treatment of asthma patients.
It has advised asthma patients to inform GPs of any problems they experience and it also called on doctors to ensure they reassess many of their patients with their condition to see if they are receiving the right treatment.
Dr Kevin Gruffydd-Jones, a GP in Wiltshire and a member of the GPs with an Interest in Asthma Group, said getting patients to take their medication was a problem.
"One problem is one of compliance, the other is getting patients to come to the surgery for regular follow-ups."
A study carried out by his practice last year found that between 30 and 70% of patients failed to take their medication.
"There is a perception among patients that they only have asthma when they are unwell and many of them do not take their preventative medication regularly," he said.