What Kind Of Test Do I Take To Find Out Whether I Have Asthma?

— -- Question:What kind of test do I take to find out whether I have asthma?

Answer: Usually the person who thinks that they might have asthma has already begun experiencing episodes of typically some chest tightness or shortness of breath, maybe with cold air exposure or infection or exercise.

And, typically, the doctor will take that history and try to determine whether it's asthma, whether it's some other respiratory condition, how many allergies you have could play an important role here, what sort of indoor environment you're exposed to. But the real test involves trying to understand whether there is any reversible obstruction of air movement in the lower airways, especially during exhalation.

The typical picture that we describe is the child who has difficulty not taking a deep breath, but actually blowing out the birthday candles. The air comes into the lungs and then gets trapped. So typically the kinds of testing that are done involves a variety of breathing tests, sometimes allergy tests, occasionally a chest X-ray.

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