work in an environment that has chemical irritants. Statistics also show that Black Americans develop asthma at a higher rate than other ethnicities.
How The Condition Is Diagnosed
Asthma can be diagnosed through a series of tests. Before doing those, however, your doctor might opt to check for other acute respiratory conditions that can cause similar symptoms. If those aren’t present, they can take your medical history and move on to more specific tests. Some examples of tests that you might take are lung function tests, allergy tests, imaging tests, and sputum analyses.
The results will also help to determine the type of asthma you’re dealing with. There are currently four categories that are used. These are mild intermittent, mild persistent, moderate persistent, and severe persistent. Depending on where you fall, your doctor can create an effective treatment plan.
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How Asthma Is Treated
Given that asthma is a chronic condition, it can’t be cured. However, your doctor will focus on preventing attacks and managing your daily respiratory health. Doing this usually entails using certain medications at different times.
The specific drugs and doses will depend on the type of asthma you have. For example, those with mild intermittent asthma may only need to use an inhaler when they have an asthma attack. More severe types of asthma may call for a combination of corticosteroids, leukotriene modifiers, short-acting beta-antagonists, and more.
It will also be important to stay away from anything that can trigger an asthma attack. While these triggers aren’t the same for everyone, some of the things to look out for include pollen, smoke, cigarette smoke, air pollution, irritating chemicals, pet dander, mold, and moderate exercise.
It’s estimated that millions of Americans are living with asthma and not all of them are diagnosed. Though some people only have mild symptoms, there are others whose asthma can be severe enough to be life-threatening. If you’re experiencing persistent issues with your breathing, it’s best to talk to your doctor as soon as possible.