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How is asthma diagnosed?
Asthma is a long-term (chronic) disease of the respiratory system. It causes inflammation in the bronchial tubes, which carry air to the lungs.
Diagnosis of asthma is based on your medical history, physical examination, and lung function tests. If you developed asthma in adulthood, your health professional will ask about your job to determine whether you may have occupational asthma.
Lung function tests can diagnose asthma, determine its severity, and check for complications.
Spirometry is the most common test to diagnose asthma. It measures how quickly you can move air in and out of the lungs and how much air is moved. The test helps your provider decide whether airflow is blocked because of inflamed bronchial tubes and whether the tubes can return to their usual size in a short time after using medication.
An exercise or inhalation challenge may be used if the spirometry test results have been normal or near normal but asthma is still suspected. These tests measure how quickly you can breathe in and out after exercise or after using a medication.
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