Asthma Diagnostics and Treatment

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Asthma, being a complex and long-term disease that affects the lung airways, is a common health condition in the US that can be diagnosed at any age. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA, 2022), some of the most common symptoms of asthma include cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and fainting. Thus, when the patient is complaining about such symptoms, it is rather challenging to diagnose them with asthma, as the symptoms are generic and can be applied to other health conditions.

Main body

In order to confirm or eliminate asthma, the patient is appointed a series of medical work-up procedures. According to Backer et al. (2018), they include spirometry, bronchodilator reversibility test, bronchial challenge test, and peak expiratory flow rate. Spirometry, one of the most common work-up procedures, stands for the process of checking one’s lung capability by measuring how much air the patient can breathe out in a forced breath (National Health Service, 2021). The bronchial challenge test is aimed at checking asthma by asking the patient to breathe in methacholine. If the lungs narrow when taking a breath, asthma is identified (Backer et al., 2019). The bronchodilator reversibility test measures one’s lung function after taking bronchodilator medication with the help of an inhaler. Hence, all work-up tests are designed to measure lung capacity and identify whether there are any obstructions in the respiratory process.

The asthma diagnostic is a challenging endeavor due to the fact that asthma can be confused with another pulmonary disease. Thus, some of the most common health conditions misdiagnosed with asthma include emphysema, vocal cord dysfunction, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and rhinitis. All of these conditions have similar symptoms, such as shortness of breath, dizziness, wheezing, and cough. Yet, they require different treatment and approaches to monitoring. According to Kavanagh et al. (2019), some other differential diagnoses of asthma can include anxiety disorder, cardiac disease, sleep apnea, obesity, bronchiectasis, dysfunctional breathing patterns, and others. Thus, it is necessary to define the tests and diagnostics that help differentiate asthma from other health complications. According to Inserro (2021), pulmonary tests and spirometry are not always reliable when assessing a patient for asthma. Instead, clinicians should be “made through a CT of the chest with dynamic expiratory imaging, and also direct visualization through a dynamic flexible bronchoscopy” (Inserro, 2021, para. 16). Moreover, it is necessary to pay attention to the specifics of the common symptoms by focusing on the intervals between breath shortness attacks and triggers for the attacks. If the results of this screening demonstrate the risk for other pulmonary conditions, additional screenings such as blood tests and cardiograms should be recommended. Moreover, the patient should fill in the questionnaire that unveils their lifestyle and family history in order to understand the potential risks of asthma.

Conclusion

In conclusion, asthma is a highly complex disease that requires both medical intervention and major changes in the person’s lifestyle. Thus, asthma diagnostics should be as accurate as possible to make sure that the disease is addressed promptly. However, due to the lack of screening standards for asthma, the condition is either mistaken for another pulmonary condition or diagnosed as a comorbidity of obesity or cardiac diseases. Hence, there is a strong need for the development of more precise and innovative guidelines for detecting pulmonary disease that affects thousands of Americans annually.

References

Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America. (2022). What are the symptoms of asthma?

Backer, V., Stensen, L., Sverrild, A., Wedge, E., & Porsbjerg, C. (2018). Objective confirmation of asthma diagnosis improves medication adherence. Journal of Asthma, 55(11), 1262-1268.

Inserro, A. (2021). Distinguishing asthma from other pulmonary diseases. AJMC.

Kavanagh, J., Jackson, D. J., & Kent, B. D. (2019). Over-and under-diagnosis in asthma. Breathe, 15(1), 20-27.

National Health Service. (2021). Spirometry.

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Asthma Diagnostics and Treatment

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