subject: How A Spirometry Test Can Detect Asthma [print this page] Asthma is a lung disorder that affects 22 million adults and 9 million children and if left untreated or undiagnosed can become life threatening. There are four different types of asthma from very mild to persistent and severe.
Your doctor will be able to diagnose your degree of asthma severity based on how often you experience symptoms and when you experience them. Your allergist will also want to have you take some breathing test to help diagnosis your asthma.
The least severe form of asthma is considered mild intermittent. With this form your symptoms may only show up less than twice a week, never or infrequently appear at night. Mild persistent asthma is a condition will show up more than twice a week but still not more than one time a day and rarely at night more than twice a month. With mild but persistent symptoms, your daily activity level may be slightly affected.
With moderate to persistent conditions, the symptoms of this disorder appear daily and affect your daily activity level. This is a more chronic level where it is important to properly monitor your condition to prevent it from getting worse or becoming out of control.
Severe and persistent asthma brings frequent attacks both day and night and can control your daily activity level.
If you think you may have asthma the first step is to schedule an appointment with an allergist to be tested. There are several different ways a doctor can test your lungs to diagnosis this chronic condition starting with the use of spirometry technology to measure your lung capacity. A spirometry test is an important and easy way to gauge your lung capacity by measuring how fast you can breathe out and how much air your lungs can hold.
If the spirometry test is inconclusive, because your symptoms are so slight, which can be common with mild, infrequent asthma, your doctor may want you to have further test including a methachloline challenge for more conclusive answers. Your doctor may also want to have you have some chest x-rays done to rule out other causes of your asthmatic symptoms.
If you suspect you have this chronic lung condition, it's important to be tested. The spirometry test is an effective and usually conclusive method to measure lung capacity and it also allows your doctor to monitor your asthma condition to measure when and if it gets worse. It is important to talk to your doctor about your symptoms and it helps to keep track of when you are experiencing them and how long they last so your doctor can get a good idea about the severity of your condition.
There is no cure for asthma, but if you understand your triggers and are proactive in taking your medication, you should expect to be able to live a normal, active life with a few if any restrictions.
