The tricky thing about asthma

In mid-January, health headlines announced that nearly one-third of adults diagnosed with asthma don’t actually have this respiratory condition at all. This announcement appeared everywhere from Fox News Health to the Chicago Tribune. As a primary care doc, a medical writer, and an asthma sufferer, I was very skeptical of these dramatic announcements, and with good reason. An editorial that accompanied this study provides important perspective that suggests the news headlines were exaggerated and misleading. Taking a closer look at the study Let’s talk about the study, which is a good one, and has merit. Canadian researchers recruited 615 random people who had been given a diagnosis of asthma, and performed formal testing to see if they still had it. And in fact, 33% of those tested did not meet criteria for the diagnosis of asthma at the time of testing. The lead author of this study is then quoted as suggesting that doctors diagnosed these patients with asthma without doing the necessary tests. Okay. As a physician who diagnoses and treats asthma (and its many variants), a medical writer and researcher who dissects these articles, and someone who is currently experiencing an awful asthma flare (or exacerbation), I take major issue with these headlines and the lead author’s press statements. Looking a little deeper The data tell the story. Of the one-third of patients who tested negative for asthma in the study, 24 (or 12% of them) actually did have appropriate testing...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Asthma and Allergies Lung disease Source Type: blogs