How Is Asthma Diagnosed?
Your doctor will ask about your asthma symptoms. This includes:
- How often and where symptoms occur
- What seems to trigger your symptoms
- If your symptoms wake you up at night
- Your risk factors for asthma
- Any known allergies
Diagnostic tests: Your doctor may ask you to perform the following tests to determine whether your symptoms are due to asthma.
- Pulmonary function tests, such as spirometry, which involves breathing in and out through a tube connected to a computer.
- Allergy skin or blood tests, that can tell your doctor which allergens, such as pet dander, dust mites or pollen, cause a reaction from your immune system.
Diagnosis in Children
It can be more difficult to tell whether a child under age 6 has asthma or another respiratory condition, because young children often cannot perform a pulmonary function test, such as spirometry. After checking a child's history and symptoms, the doctor may try asthma medicines for a few months to see how well the child responds.
For more detail about diagnostic testing, see the Diagnosis section in Asthma.
Beneficiaries who enroll in our asthma DM program have the advantage of working with a registered respiratory therapist or nurse. He or she will help you understand which diagnostic tests are available and what the results mean.
Learn more and begin the enrollment process now.
Source: From Asthma by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, published May 21, 2020
