Allergy Menu
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There are various simple tests in order
to find out if you have asthma: |
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1. Your history of symptoms
Initially, your physician has to be like a detective and ask you questions about your symptoms and level of discomfort. He or she will also be looking for clues as to what may have brought on the asthma – was it after exercise, exposure to cigarette smoke, allergies? If you have a chance before going to the physician, try to fill out the diary in this book. You can often forget symptoms after a few days whereas documenting your symptoms over time can help your physician to correctly diagnose your condition.
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2. Peak flow rate assessment
A simple but quantifiable way of determining the extent of your asthma is the peak flow meter test. It is easy to use; many asthmatics use the meter at home to monitor how they are managing their asthma.
Your physician, technician or nurse will ask you to blow as hard and as fast as you can through the meter. (The best analogy to this would be blowing out the candles at your birthday party.) Just as scales measure your weight and a thermometer measures your temperature, this peak flow meter measures the maximum speed with which air can be forced out of your lungs.
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If your airways are narrowed due to inflammation, then you will not be able to achieve as great a speed as normal and therefore you will have a reduced peak flow rate.
For example, if the patient is a 5’1”, 12-year-old boy, one would expect a normal reading of around 361. The peak flow rate, however, is measuring just 240, considerably below the average for his age, height and gender. This indicates he has narrowing of his airways and may have asthma.
Further to this test the physician may want you to exercise on a bike or treadmill or give you some medication to also assess your lung efficiency changes.
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3. Pulmonary function test.
“Pulmonary” is a term that refers to the lungs. Someone from your medical team will ask you to breathe while you are hooked up to tubes and equipment that measures how your lungs are performing.
Other tests that may be done to determine any other causes other than asthma are chest x-rays and laboratory tests on the mucus you are coughing up.
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Allergy Tests
Because asthma is often triggered by allergies, you may be given tests whereby a drop of a possible allergen trigger like dust, pollen or mold is placed in rows on the arm. Each drop is then gently pricked to see if there is a reaction. This is very safe and the skin reaction settles down after 30 - 60 minutes.
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Alternatively, instead of testing your skin reaction to allergens you can have a blood test where a laboratory computer can analyze, from chemicals in your blood, what types of allergens trigger your asthma attacks.
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