Toronto (OTL) – A new study that has recently come out has found that nearly 30 percent or 1/3 of Canadian Adults who have been diagnosed with asthma by their doctor may not have the disease. The findings suggest that literally thousands may be taking medication that they don’t need. The original study was to see if obese people were being misdiagnosed but the study found that misdiagnosis was occurring as well in those who were of normal weight.
Symptoms like wheezing, or shortness or breath can often be a sign of other problems like respiratory infection or COPD. The most common medicines used to treat asthma are steroids. Steroids are not harmful for someone who truly has the disease, but for someone without the disease they risk being exposed to harmful side effects from the drugs and also spending money for the drugs unnecessarily.
Previous research has suggested that asthma is often diagnosed by physicians primarily on the basis of symptoms, despite the fact that clinical guidelines recommend using a spirometer to measure lung volume and airway flow. What can be done? If you have been diagnosed by your physician with asthma and have not been given a test using a spirometer ask for one. You also have the option of getting a second diagnoiss if you are not happy or satisfied with the original one.