Have you been told that you’re an asthmatic? If so, you’re in good company. Asthma is by no means a rare disease. It’s estimated that up to one in twenty people have this lung disease and the rate of asthma is even higher in children. The disturbing news is that you may have been told by your doctor that you have asthma and not have it all. According to a study carried out in Canada, up to thirty percent of adults labeled as asthmatics may have wheezing and chest tightness for reasons that are unrelated to asthma. Asthma is a disease that’s frequently overdiagnosed and the diagnosis is based primarily on symptoms which are often similar to those experienced with other conditions.

Have You Been Mislabeled as an Asthmatic?

When Canadian researchers evaluated a group of almost five-hundred adults who had been labeled as asthmatic through pulmonary function testing, they found that almost a third of them had no evidence of the disease. Why is asthma a disease that’s so frequently misdiagnosed? Asthma typically presents with symptoms of wheezing, cough, and chest tightness which are symptoms often seen with other conditions such as bronchitis and viral infections. If a person presents with wheezing, cough, and no fever, a doctor may mislabel the person as an asthmatic based solely on the presence of wheezing and cough.

Are You An Asthmatic or Could It Be Something Else?

Other medical conditions can cause asthma-like symptoms including chronic gastroesophageal reflux or GERD, allergic reactions to chemicals in the home, reactions to medications, and even heart failure. Some of these conditions can be difficult to distinguish from asthma, and because asthma is such as common condition there’s a tendency to label any person who’s wheezing as an asthmatic.

Ways to Get a Better Diagnosis

How can you avoid being labeled an asthmatic when you aren’t? Encourage your doctor to do a spirometry study. To do this test, you breathe into a tube that’s connected to a machine which measures how much air you can exhale over a given period of time. People who have asthma usually exhale air more slowly due to the resistance in the airways. Sometimes, your doctor will give you an inhaler to see if this improves the results. If so, it’s likely that you’re an asthmatic.

Avoiding Being Mislabeled an Asthmatic: The Bottom Line

If you believe you’ve been incorrectly labeled as an asthmatic, ask your doctor to do spirometry testing, so you can be reassured you’ve been properly diagnosed. Most insurance companies cover spirometry testing to diagnose asthma and it’s a simple test to perform. Do it for your own peace of mind.