Asthma Test

A past history of other family members with asthma, sinusitis, eczema, or hay fever, and repeated wheezing which goes away after inhaling a bronchodilator is a good indicator of asthma. Occasionally when a diagnosis is unclear asthma can be showed by 'challenging' you with a special vapor such as methacholine or histamine which reproduces wheezing in an asthmatic but not a normal person.

In very young children/ babies, doctors are reluctant to label asthma on a first episode of wheezing (as there are other causes of wheezing besides asthma) especially if the child is suffering a flu at that time. The term 'reactive airway disease' is preferred until more episodes of wheezing are demonstrated and related to allergens around the child.

In an adult or child with first time wheeze a chest xray is done to rule out some of the many other non-asthmatic causes of wheezing like a child who has breathed in a peanut, pebble etc. or emphysema in an adult.

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