SolveYourProblem Article Series: Asthma
Asthma Causes, Triggers & Treatments

How To Diagnose Asthma

Asthma is a disease that can at times be difficult to diagnose because the symptoms that a sufferer may manifest can resemble other types of diseases such as emphysema, bronchitis, and some lower respiratory infections.

To come to a diagnosis conclusively may take a little time and patience. If some common symptoms have begun to show in you or in someone that you are caring for, it would be helpful to a doctor if you can keep a record as much as possible of when and how these symptoms manifest themselves.

Your doctor will be curious about any coughing or wheezing episodes. If you find yourself short of breath in certain situations or at specific times such as during particular seasons of the year. Have you noticed distinct reactions to irritants such as strong scents, smoke, or other chemical fumes? Do the reactions come on suddenly? And how often? Do you experience colds that seem to settle in the chest area? Do they seem to linger too long? What medicines do you take to deal with them and how do you react to the medicines?

You will also need to have some knowledge of your family's medical history. Does anyone close to you have trouble with allergies such as hay fever? Or more clearly, has anyone else been diagnosed with asthma? By being as prepared with as much of this information as possible it will help the doctor to narrow his focus on what may be the cause. As with any disease, the sooner a diagnosis is made the sooner treatment can begin.

Beside recommending certain blood tests and chest x-rays a doctor or asthma specialist will more than likely use a device called a spirometer that checks how well your lungs are functioning. As you breathe into a tube after taking a deep breath it will measure how much air you exhale and how fast you are able to do it. If your airways are now inflamed, irritated and narrowed or if the muscles around the airways have tightened the air amount and speed will be lower than average.

Other tests can include allergy tests to find out what brings an immune reaction from your body, exercise tests that monitor your breathing response, providing you with a 'peak flow meter' that allows you to monitor how well you breathe over a period of a week or two in your normal environment, and electocardiograms that may eliminate the possibility of heart disease.

Because asthma requires it's own specialized treatment, even though it's symptoms may be similar to other diseases, it is vital that the time is taken to determine a correct diagnosis.

This diagnosis of asthma will fall into one of four basic levels of severity. These include a mild form that manifests itself once or twice a week, at night - once or twice a month, and in between there are no obvious symptoms and your breathing is normal.

Next is a mild persistent level that is not more than perhaps once a day and your physical activity is becoming affected when the attacks come on. This is followed by moderate persistent asthma that is manifested by several symptoms every day and an overall increase in night time symptoms.

Severe persistent asthma lives up to it's description with an ongoing set of symptoms that persist throughout the day and night and your activity is most likely to be very limited.

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by SolveYourProblem.com : 2008

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