Your primary care doctor will diagnose asthma based on your medical history, a physical exam, and results from tests.
He or she also will figure out what your level of asthma severity is—that is, whether its intermittent, mild, moderate,
or severe. Your severity level will determine what treatment you will start on. You may need to see an asthma specialist
if:
— You need special tests to be sure you have asthma.
— Youve had a life-threatening asthma attack.
— You need more than one kind of medicine or higher
doses of medicine to control your asthma, or if you have overall difficulty getting your asthma well controlled.
— Youre thinking about getting allergy treatments.
Medical History
Your doctor may ask about your family history of asthma and allergies. He or she also may ask whether you have asthma symptoms, and when and how often they occur. Let your doctor know if your symptoms seem to happen only during certain times of the year or in certain places, or if they get worse at night. Your doctor also may want to know what factors seem to set off your symptoms or worsen them.
Your doctor may ask you about related health conditions that can interfere with asthma management. These conditions include a runny nose, sinus infections, reflux disease, psychological stress, and sleep apnea.
Physical Exam
Your doctor will listen to your breathing and look for signs of asthma or allergies. These signs include wheezing, my nose or swollen nasal passages, and allergic skin infections such as eczema. Keep in mind that you can still li.we asthma even if you dont have these signs on the day lluit your doctor examines you.
Diagnostic Tests Tung Function Test
Your doctor will use a test called spirometry to check hOW your lungs are working. This test measures how much .iir you can breathe in and out. It also measures how fast you can blow air out. Your doctor also may give you medicines and then test you again to see whether the results improved.
If the starting results are lower than normal and improve with the medicine, and if your medical history shows a pattern of asthma symptoms, your diagnosis will likely be asthma.
Other Tests
Your doctor may order other tests if he or she needs more information to make a diagnosis. Other tests may
Include:
— Allergy testing to find out which allergens affect you, if any.
— A test to measure how sensitive your airways are. This is called a bronchoprovocation test. Using spirometry,
this test repeatedly measures your lung function during physical activity or after you receive increasing doses of cold air or a special chemical to breathe in.
— A test to show whether you have another disease with the same symptoms as asthma, such as reflux disease,
vocal cord dysfunction, or sleep apnea.
A chest x ray or an EKG (electrocardiogram). These tests will help find out whether a foreign object or other disease may be causing your symptoms.
Most children who have asthma develop their first symptoms before 5 years of age. However, asthma in young children (aged 0 to 5 years) can be hard to diagnose. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell whether a child has asthma or another childhood condition because the symptoms of both conditions can be similar.
Also, many young children who have wheezing episodes when they get colds or respiratory infections dont go on to have asthma after theyre 6 years old. These symptoms may be due to the fact that infants have smaller airways that can narrow even further when they get a cold or respiratory infection. The airways grow as a child grows older, so wheezing no longer occurs when the child gets a cold. A young child who has frequent wheezing with colds or respiratory infections is more likely to have asthma if:
One or both parents have asthma. The child has signs of allergies, including the allergic skin condition eczema.
The child has allergic reactions to pollens or other airborne allergens. The child wheezes even when he or she doesnt have a
cold or other infection.
- A lung function test along with a medical history and physical exam is the most certain way to diagnose asthma. However, this test is hard to do in children younger than 5 years. Thus, doctors must rely on childrens medical histories, signs and symptoms, and physical exams to make a diagnosis. Doctors also may use a 4 to 6 week trial of asthma medicines to see how well a child responds.
He or she also will figure out what your level of asthma severity is—that is, whether its intermittent, mild, moderate,
or severe. Your severity level will determine what treatment you will start on. You may need to see an asthma specialist
if:
— You need special tests to be sure you have asthma.
— Youve had a life-threatening asthma attack.
— You need more than one kind of medicine or higher
doses of medicine to control your asthma, or if you have overall difficulty getting your asthma well controlled.
— Youre thinking about getting allergy treatments.
Medical History
Your doctor may ask about your family history of asthma and allergies. He or she also may ask whether you have asthma symptoms, and when and how often they occur. Let your doctor know if your symptoms seem to happen only during certain times of the year or in certain places, or if they get worse at night. Your doctor also may want to know what factors seem to set off your symptoms or worsen them.
Your doctor may ask you about related health conditions that can interfere with asthma management. These conditions include a runny nose, sinus infections, reflux disease, psychological stress, and sleep apnea.
Physical Exam
Your doctor will listen to your breathing and look for signs of asthma or allergies. These signs include wheezing, my nose or swollen nasal passages, and allergic skin infections such as eczema. Keep in mind that you can still li.we asthma even if you dont have these signs on the day lluit your doctor examines you.
Diagnostic Tests Tung Function Test
Your doctor will use a test called spirometry to check hOW your lungs are working. This test measures how much .iir you can breathe in and out. It also measures how fast you can blow air out. Your doctor also may give you medicines and then test you again to see whether the results improved.
If the starting results are lower than normal and improve with the medicine, and if your medical history shows a pattern of asthma symptoms, your diagnosis will likely be asthma.
Other Tests
Your doctor may order other tests if he or she needs more information to make a diagnosis. Other tests may
Include:
— Allergy testing to find out which allergens affect you, if any.
— A test to measure how sensitive your airways are. This is called a bronchoprovocation test. Using spirometry,
this test repeatedly measures your lung function during physical activity or after you receive increasing doses of cold air or a special chemical to breathe in.
— A test to show whether you have another disease with the same symptoms as asthma, such as reflux disease,
vocal cord dysfunction, or sleep apnea.
A chest x ray or an EKG (electrocardiogram). These tests will help find out whether a foreign object or other disease may be causing your symptoms.
DIAGNOSING ASTHMA IN YOUNG CHILDREN
Most children who have asthma develop their first symptoms before 5 years of age. However, asthma in young children (aged 0 to 5 years) can be hard to diagnose. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell whether a child has asthma or another childhood condition because the symptoms of both conditions can be similar.
Also, many young children who have wheezing episodes when they get colds or respiratory infections dont go on to have asthma after theyre 6 years old. These symptoms may be due to the fact that infants have smaller airways that can narrow even further when they get a cold or respiratory infection. The airways grow as a child grows older, so wheezing no longer occurs when the child gets a cold. A young child who has frequent wheezing with colds or respiratory infections is more likely to have asthma if:
One or both parents have asthma. The child has signs of allergies, including the allergic skin condition eczema.
The child has allergic reactions to pollens or other airborne allergens. The child wheezes even when he or she doesnt have a
cold or other infection.
- A lung function test along with a medical history and physical exam is the most certain way to diagnose asthma. However, this test is hard to do in children younger than 5 years. Thus, doctors must rely on childrens medical histories, signs and symptoms, and physical exams to make a diagnosis. Doctors also may use a 4 to 6 week trial of asthma medicines to see how well a child responds.
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