Asthma is a disease in which muscles put pressure on the airways and close them to avoid certain substances to enter the lungs. This is one of the normal functions for these muscles but when the person is asthmatic these muscles tend to react to specific substances or allergens to which they wouldn’t in a normal person. Airway constriction is very fast and aggressive and many times medical attention is required to reverse the condition.
When asthma is suspected on a patient the first thing that the doctor must do is check the family medical history. Asthma can be passed on from parents to children. It does not necessary appear, or flare up at a young age, it may take many years even all the way to adulthood before it shows symptoms. Identifying and diagnosing the disease may take a little time and will require a close watch on the patient’s environment and activities to discover and isolate the trigger which produces the reaction.
There are many, many different reasons or causes that will trigger an asthmatic reaction and there are also other diseases that resemble an asthma attack but they aren’t. This is especially difficult to determine in children because one of the recommended tests for adults, a pulmonary function test, is not recommended neither for children nor for sick elderly people due to the exhaustion and stress it produces on the respiratory system. During this test, histamine is introduced in the body to provoke the closing of the airways and an antihistamine is introduced afterwards to relieve the symptoms. This process is done several times to verify the results and this can be exhausting and drain a lot of energy from the patient.
Radiological exams, such as chest X-rays and a CT scan are performed to rule out any other possible respiratory condition. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease symptoms can be confused with asthma symptoms. Acid reflux, which is a digestive disorder, can also trigger a reaction similar to asthma symptoms. Care must be taken while diagnosing asthma because the patient may be given medicines that are not going to solve his problems and may react negatively to them.
Observation of the patient in his or her natural environment is absolutely necessary to determine the existence of asthma. There are certain events or things the person comes in contact with that trigger the reaction. For example, the person may be allergic to cats hair, if so, when he or she is with a cat or in a house where a cat lives a reaction will be triggered and this person will begin coughing and losing his breath. During spring pollens are released into the air by many different plants and many people are affected or are allergic to one or more of these, thus an asthmatic reaction is seen.
Dust, pollen, animal hairs, chocolate, certain foods, there are many factors which will affect any given individual so once the doctor has determined that the patient is asthmatic allergy test must follow. These tests are performed at the doctor’s office and they are performed over a short period of time. The patient is injected under the skin with preparations of pollens from different flowers and grass, different types of dust, different types of foods, many, things. When the person is in fact allergic to a specific shot a small red rash will show and depending of the size and reaction of the skin to the shot the doctor will determine if the allergy to this substance exists and how bad it is. This is a slow tedious process but it is the safest and most conclusive way to determine allergies. Once the doctor has a clear picture of the allergies the person has he can determine what the correct medication for the person is. There are many allergy medications available on the market and most of them apply to specific affections so care must be taken to test for allergies thoroughly. The person diagnosed with asthma will then have to take a medicine for his allergies along with another which will take some of the sensitivity out of his air way muscles allowing him to lead a normal life and be able to go outdoors without the danger of an asthma attack.