- Asthma, is a long-term respiratory illness associated with the airways, which become inflamed and swollen when symptoms are triggered.
- The research team found that 33% of adults who were diagnosed with asthma, actually did not have it.
- About 90% of the patients did not need to take medications, indicating unnecessary medical costs.
- 33% did not have active asthma
- 90% could stop medications
- 80% who did not have asthma were taking asthma medication
- 35% of these participants were taking medications daily though they did not need to
- Doctors did not always order tests to confirm diagnosis of asthma
- Diagnosis was based mostly on symptoms that patients presented with
Asthma
Asthma is a long-term illness associated with the airways which include bronchial tubes. Asthma results in the airways becoming inflamed and swollen with the muscles tightening when symptoms are triggered. This restricts the passage of air moving in and out of the lungs, leading to symptoms that include wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath as well as coughing.Identifying Asthma
The study involved 613 random patients who were from 10 different Canadian cities who were diagnosed with asthma during the last five years. They were made to undergo a series of detailed breathing tests after which they were checked by lung specialist who ruled out asthma in a third of the patients.The medical records of 530 of the study participants were analyzed and the original diagnosis was determined. One of the significant aspects of the study was that in nearly 49% of the study participants the physicians did not order air flow tests, a test that was deemed necessary according to medical guidelines.
Re-diagnosis of Asthma Patients
When the study participants were re-diagnosed, it was found that- Many of the study participants had minor health issues that ranged from heart burn to allergies
- 28% of the participants had nothing wrong with them
- 2% had serious conditions like heart disease or pulmonary hypertension which was misdiagnosed as asthma. These patients were then guided for more appropriate treatment.
“Not Surprised”
Dr. Aaron said that most patients, who received the news that they did not have asthma, were not surprised at all. Some people felt that their “puffer” wasn’t working while others believed that they had a more serious condition. Most of the conditions that were diagnosed as a result of this study were not serious and could be treated easily.Previous Study by Dr. Aaron
This study is not the first time that Dr. Aaron has been studying the gross misdiagnosis of asthma. In a previous study conducted in 2008,- 30% of asthma patients were misdiagnosed
- A Canadian survey from 2010 showed that
- 8.5% of Canadians over 12 years of age were diagnosed with asthma
- Request their doctor for a breathing test (spirometry) to identify if they have asthma or some other chronic pulmonary disease.
- Take their medication regularly
References:
- Asthma Overview - (http://www.aaaai.org/conditions-and-treatments/asthma)
Source-Medindia