One third of asthma patients do not suffer from asthma at all

Study examines the lungs of people with asthma
It seems that many adult asthma patients do not really suffer from asthma. Researchers have now found that about one in three adults with diagnosed asthma may not be at all suffering from chronic pulmonary disease. For this reason, many sufferers could easily live without medication for asthma.

Researchers from the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute found in an investigation that many adults diagnosed with asthma do not have the condition at all. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "JAMA".

Asthma is a very common disease in today's society. However, physicians found out in an investigation that one in three asthma patients may not even have asthma. For example, it is due to misdiagnosis and a remission of the disease. (Image: vchalup / fotolia.com)

One in three alleged sufferers may not suffer from asthma
Many people around the world suffer from asthma. Do you belong to these patients with a chronic lung disorder? Then you may not have asthma at all and have been misdiagnosed. One in three adults may be subject to such a flawed diagnosis, the Canadian experts speculate.

Physicians wean asthma patients from their medications
Researchers performed so-called pulmonary function tests in 613 adults for their study. All subjects had experienced asthma within the past five years, the authors explain. When the participants took medicines for asthma, they were gradually weaned off by medical professionals on four clinic visits. So the doctors wanted to determine how well their lungs work without such treatment.

181 subjects achieved good lung test results for asthma patients
The later evaluations found that 203 participants (33 percent) were unlikely to have asthma. Even after one year of follow-up, 181 subjects still did too well on lung tests to be diagnosed with asthma, the researchers say. "We were able to completely wean these patients from asthma medications," say the doctors.

Often there was a wrong diagnosis or the disease was in remission
The follow-up examinations over the next year went well, despite the lack of medication, explains study author Shawn Aaron of the University of Ottawa. Some of these patients clearly had a wrong diagnosis. These subjects would have other health problems. Although some participants suffered from asthma, the disease was already in remission, the expert adds.

Symptoms of asthma
Asthma can be difficult to diagnose because not all patients have the same triggers or symptoms. These include, for example, difficulty breathing, chest pain, coughing and wheezing, explain the doctors. Some chronic asthma patients have already had experience with periods of remission and relapses occurring.

Subjects had to perform breath tests
For the current study, the researchers monitored all patients for symptoms through home breath tests. For example, they wanted to find out how quickly the air is expelled from the lungs. In addition, another test was performed. For this inhaled patient a drug that narrows the bronchi. This simulates the conditions that cause asthma. This will help determine how well the respiratory tract responds, the researchers add.

Physicians perform a follow-up examination on subjects
Each patient additionally performed a so-called spirometry test. This test measured lung function. He noticed how much air people inhale and how much they exhale. Participants who were ultimately excluded from a diagnosis of the current asthma had to be clinically monitored and monitored with repeated challenging bronchial tests over a one-year period.

Heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, COPD and GERD were noted instead of asthma
Among the people originally diagnosed with asthma, there were twelve people (two percent of the participants) with another serious condition other than asthma. These include, for example, heart disease and pulmonary hypertension, explain the scientists. Other subjects have been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), gastroesophageal reflux (GERD), or so-called anxiety-related hyperventilation rather than asthma.

Airflow limitation after misdiagnosis less likely
For the misdiagnosed subjects, airflow limitation was less likely than found in the original tests compared to participants who confirmed the initial asthma diagnosis, the researchers explain.

Existing asthma should be reconfirmed by objective lung tests
If asthma could be ruled out in the patients, 90 percent did not require medication even after one year. The study confirms the need for patients with diagnosed asthma to confirm the disease by re-examining with objective lung tests (especially spirometry), say the experts. Thus, an unnecessary lifelong therapy can be avoided.

Nobody should take medication unnecessarily
The most important potential damage from a misdiagnosis of asthma is the lack of treatment for the patient's actual illness, explain the physicians. Other patients do not recognize that detected asthma is already in remission. This then leads to an unnecessary intake of drugs. Although the negative effects of asthma medication are minimal, no one should unnecessarily take medication, the authors explain. (As)