How to test for asthma?

Written by Yuan Qing
Pulmonology
Updated on January 27, 2025
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Asthma is fully referred to as bronchial asthma. It is primarily due to the presence of inflammatory cells in the airways over a long period of time. These inflammatory cells render the trachea highly reactive. With this hyperreactivity, patients often experience wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing, which typically occur in the early morning and at night. These symptoms can generally be alleviated with or without medication, and if a patient typically exhibits these symptoms, an asthma diagnosis can essentially be made. However, if the symptoms are atypical, such as having only coughing or wheezing, it may be necessary to perform some pulmonary function tests, chest X-rays, ultrasounds, or electrocardiograms on the patient to rule out other diseases that could cause wheezing and coughing. Therefore, doctors will arrange for these tests based on the patient's symptoms.

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Written by Yuan Qing
Pulmonology
57sec home-news-image

How to test for asthma?

Asthma is fully referred to as bronchial asthma. It is primarily due to the presence of inflammatory cells in the airways over a long period of time. These inflammatory cells render the trachea highly reactive. With this hyperreactivity, patients often experience wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing, which typically occur in the early morning and at night. These symptoms can generally be alleviated with or without medication, and if a patient typically exhibits these symptoms, an asthma diagnosis can essentially be made. However, if the symptoms are atypical, such as having only coughing or wheezing, it may be necessary to perform some pulmonary function tests, chest X-rays, ultrasounds, or electrocardiograms on the patient to rule out other diseases that could cause wheezing and coughing. Therefore, doctors will arrange for these tests based on the patient's symptoms.

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Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
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How to treat asthma in its early stages?

Due to different triggering factors for asthma, the clinical symptoms exhibited by patients can vary greatly. Generally speaking, the main purpose of early treatment for asthma is to alleviate the clinical discomfort symptoms that asthma causes to the patient. If the asthma is caused by contact with a certain allergen resulting in allergic cough, wheezing, and breathlessness, the treatment should first aim to remove the triggering factors, then administer some anti-asthma medications and cough and phlegm relieving drugs. Additionally, for some asthma patients, treatment may also need to appropriately include nebulized inhalation of corticosteroid drugs. Moreover, if the asthma is caused by infection with certain viruses or bacteria, it is necessary to appropriately administer antiviral and anti-infection treatments, as well as nebulized inhalation of some corticosteroid drugs, which can all help relieve some of the early clinical discomfort symptoms caused by asthma.

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Written by Yan Xin Liang
Pediatrics
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Is childhood asthma dangerous?

Pediatric asthma is divided into remission and acute exacerbation periods. Generally speaking, pediatric asthma is very safe during the remission period. During this process, we just need to standardize, plan, and adhere to long-term medication. However, some asthma cases enter a continuous state during the acute exacerbation period, which may present with panting, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. This situation is very dangerous. We need to promptly provide treatment to relieve asthma and relieve spasms. If the medication does not provide relief, immediate hospital emergency treatment is required.

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Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
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Is variant asthma the same as asthma?

Cough variant asthma is a very common type of asthma. Typically, patients with this condition predominantly experience chronic coughing, generally lasting over two months. These patients may not exhibit other clinical symptoms such as wheezing or breathlessness. It is a specific type of asthma characterized by recurrent chronic coughing. Once diagnosed, these patients should promptly receive treatment to relieve bronchospasm and anti-allergic medications among other symptomatic treatments. The course of treatment generally requires about 4 to 8 weeks, after which some patients may gradually discontinue the medication. Some patients might need intermittent long-term treatment. Therefore, this particular type of asthma requires significant attention. (Medication should be administered under the guidance of a professional doctor.)

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Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
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Do people with asthma cough?

The asthma commonly referred to is bronchial asthma, which is primarily characterized by recurrent episodes of breathing difficulty. This difficulty in breathing is mainly manifested as chest tightness and shortness of breath. Additionally, asthma is often triggered by upper respiratory tract infections. Therefore, most asthma patients experience coughing and expectoration during acute attacks. There is also a special type of asthma known as cough variant asthma, which, as the name suggests, is primarily characterized by coughing. This type of cough is generally dry with little to no sputum, or it involves a small amount of mucous sputum. The coughing can occur during the day but is generally more pronounced at night.