Diagnosing Asthma: Mild, Moderate, and Severe

diagnosing asthma mild moderate and severe to learn if you have asthma see a doctor to be diagnosed the doctor will ask you a few questions examine you and do lung tests and other tests you might need some of these tests on a different day or after taking certain medicines asthma can run in families so your doctor will probably ask if anyone else in your family has asthma allergies or even colds that last a long time your environment meaning your home outside your home your place of work or other places you spend time can cause asthma or make it worse your doctor will ask you about your environment this includes if you have pets live in an area with a lot of grass mold or traffic and spend time around people who smoke an important asthma test called spirometry checks how well your lungs are working you'll be asked to blow into a machine as hard fast and long as you can if you don't blow air as much or as fast as healthy people you could have asthma you might take the test again after using a medicine that opens up the airways in your lungs if your results improve this is another sign of asthma you might also have breathing tests after using a medicine that makes people with asthma do worse after taking it or you might have a test that measures a certain gas called nitric oxide in your breath people with some types of asthma breathe out more of it than other people do your doctor might order an x-ray and other scans to look at your lungs you might also have blood tests one blood test checks the number of white cells called eosinophils in your blood some people with asthma have high levels of eosinophils another blood test checks the level of an antibody called ige elevated ige levels can be a sign of allergies skin tests may also be used to check for elevated ige a test called a bronchoscopy uses a tiny tube that goes inside your lungs through the tube your doctor can take samples of mucus or fluid the samples tell your doctor even more about your condition your doctor also should assess the severity of your asthma there are four main levels or grades of asthma intermittent mild moderate and severe intermittent asthma causes symptoms occasionally for example you probably have a cough two days a week or less your asthma does not affect daily activities and your spirometry results are normal or almost normal if you have mild asthma you have symptoms more than twice a week but not every day your daily activities are slightly affected you probably use a quick relief medicine such as an inhaler more than twice a week and take a daily asthma controller medicine if you have moderate asthma your symptoms wake you up often you use your quick relief inhaler every day and having asthma impacts your daily activities you take one or two daily controller medicines besides your quick relief medicine if you have severe asthma your symptoms bother you each day and wake you up on many nights you use your quick relief inhaler several times a day you probably take more than two asthma controller medicines but still have symptoms you might feel like asthma controls your life knowing the cause of severe asthma can be helpful in controlling it severe asthma can be related to allergies your body producing too many of certain types of white blood cell called eosinophils or neutrophils or overdeveloped airway muscles an asthma specialist can prescribe specific treatment that can help many people with asthma have other health conditions some do not affect your asthma very much and some do such as allergies sinus problems and heartburn treating these health conditions can be important to help control asthma triggers is the term for things that make your asthma worse it's important to learn about your asthma triggers and avoid them common triggers are cigarette smoke dust mold grass or tree pollen and pet or cockroach dander talk with your doctor or nurse about keeping your home clean and free of asthma triggers for example you can learn to avoid pollen and wash bedding to get rid of dust mites if your home has mold or cockroaches you or your landlord can fix the cause if you have intermittent or mild asthma you need to see a doctor regularly if your asthma is moderate or severe seeing an asthma specialist routinely is important everyone with asthma needs spirometry testing to check how their lungs are working you might also need other tests to check your asthma with regular care you can keep asthma under control as much as possible you

Channel: ACCP CHEST

Views: 364,471

Keywords: Asthma, severe asthma, lung disease, types of asthma, chest foundation, severe asthma attack, asthma disease, health industry, asthma attack, asthma symptoms, asthma disease and treatment, asthma treatment, severe asthma symptoms, asthma (disease or medical condition), severe asthma attack treatment, pulmonary, pulmonologist, pulmonology, pulmonology test, lung health, lungs, lung, respiratory health, respiratory care, healthcare

Id: pZQ46fHFm2A

Length: 5min 30sec (330 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 21 2018