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- Asthma treatment: Do complementary and alternative approaches work?
- Hypnosis: Another way to manage pain, kick bad habits
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- Allergies and asthma: They often occur together
Lifestyle and home remedies (3)
- Asthma in adults: Gain control with a written asthma plan
- Asthma-friendly products: Do they help reduce symptoms?
- Asthma: Use a peak flow meter to gain control
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- Symptom Checker
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- Asthma: Steps in testing and diagnosis
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- Asthma treatment: 3 steps to better asthma control
- Asthma medications: Know your options
- Asthma inhalers: Which one's right for you?
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Asthma: Steps in testing and diagnosis
Diagnosing asthma involves a thorough medical history, physical exam and lung function tests.
By Mayo Clinic staffIf you have wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath, your doctor may suspect you have asthma. But these signs and symptoms alone aren't enough to diagnose asthma because they can also be caused by other conditions. Your doctor will base your diagnosis on a number of things, including a physical exam and answers to questions about your symptoms and health (medical history). In addition, you may need further evaluation, which can include lung function tests or other tests.
Asthma signs and symptoms
Common signs and symptoms of asthma include:
- Recurrent wheezing
- Coughing
- Trouble breathing
- Chest tightness
- Symptoms that occur or worsen at night
- Symptoms that are triggered by cold air, exercise or exposure to allergens
In a young child, additional signs and symptoms may indicate asthma. They may include:
- Breathing that is louder than normal or faster than normal. Newborns typically take 30 to 60 breaths a minute. Toddlers typically take 20 to 40 breaths a minute.
- Frequent coughing or coughing that worsens after active play.
- Coughing, clear mucus and a runny nose caused by hay fever.
Medical history
Your doctor will ask you about several things, which may include:
- What your symptoms are
- If you have hay fever or other allergies — which can be linked to asthma
- Whether you have any biological (blood) relatives with hay fever or other allergies
- What health problems you have now or have had in the past
- What medications or herbal supplements you take
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References
- Expert Panel Report 3 (EPR-3): Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma — Summary report 2007. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/asthma/asthsumm.htm. Accessed June 5, 2009.
- Asthma in infants. Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. www.aafa.org/print.cfm?id=8&sub=17&cont=160. Accessed June 5, 2009.
- Wheezing and asthma in infants. KidsHealth. www.kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?dn=KidsHealth&lic=1&ps=107&cat_id=20564&article_set=37965. Accessed June 5, 2009.
- Stewart L. Exhaled nitric oxide. Immunology and Allergy Clinics of North America. 2007;27:571.
- American Thoracic Society. ATS/ERS recommendations for standardized procedures for the online and offline measurement of exhaled lower respiratory nitric oxide and nasal nitric oxide, 2005. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2005;171:912.
