Although the exact situation with regard to asthma prevalence and diagnosis is unclear, there are certainly some populations in which asthma is under-diagnosed. Some sources claim asthma is under-diagnosed in children, with episodes of wheezing not considered possible cases of asthma, and thus not seeking diagnosis and treatment for asthma. However, other sources state that asthma is over-diagnosed in children. Asthma is also probably under-diagnosed in the elderly.
Alternative diagnoses list for Asthma:
For a diagnosis of Asthma, the following list of conditions have been mentioned in sources as possible alternative diagnoses to consider during the diagnostic process for Asthma:
- COPD
- Bronchiectasis
- Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis
- Cystic fibrosis
- Eosinophilic pneumonia
- Bronchiolitis
- Foreign body aspiration
- Vocal cord paralysis
- Tracheal stenosis
- Tracheomalacia
- Angioedema
- Congestive heart failure
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease
- Pulmonary embolism
- Factitious disorder
Diseases for which Asthma may be an alternative diagnosis
The other diseases for which Asthma is listed as a possible alternative diagnosis in their lists include:
- Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis
- Allergic Disorders
- Allergic reaction
- Allergies
- Animal allergies
- Anoxia
- Ascariasis
- Aspergillosis
- Bronchiectasis
- Bronchiolitis
- Bronchopulmonary dysplasia
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
- Churg-Strauss Syndrome
- Dust mite allergies
- Emphysema
- Hay fever
- Hypersensitivity pneumonitis
- Mold allergies
- Pneumothorax
- Respiratory failure
- Respiratory syncytial virus
- Stridor
- Type 1 diabetes
- Upper Respiratory Infection
- Wheezing
- Whooping Cough
Common Misdiagnoses and Asthma
Mild worm infections undiagnosed in children: Human worm infestations, esp. threadworm, can be overlooked in some cases, because it may cause only mild or even absent symptoms. Although the most common symptoms are anal itch (or vaginal itch), which are obvious in severe cases, milder conditions may fail to be noticed in children. In particular, it may interfere with the child’s good night’s sleep. Threadworm is a condition to consider in children with symptoms such as bedwetting (enuresis), difficulty sleeping, irritability, or other sleeping symptoms. Visual inspection of the region can often see the threadworms, at night when they are active, but they can also be missed this way, and multiple inspections can be warranted if worms are suspected. See the introduction to threadworm.
Mesenteric adenitis misdiagnosed as appendicitis in children: Because appendicitis is one of the more feared conditions for a child with abdominal pain, it can be over-diagnosed (it can, of course, also fail to be diagnosed with fatal effect). One of the most common misdiagnosed is for children with mesenteric adenitis to be misdiagnosed as appendicitis. Fortunately, thus misdiagnosis is usually less serious than the reverse failure to diagnose appendicitis.
Blood pressure cuffs misdiagnose hypertension in children: One known misdiagnosis issue with hyperension, arises in relation to the simple equipment used to test blood pressure. The “cuff” around the arm to measure blood pressure can simply be too small to accurately test a child’s blood pressure. This can lead to an incorrect diagnosis of a child with hypertension. The problem even has a name unofficially: “small cuff syndrome”. See misdiagnosis of hypertension.
Children with migraine often misdiagnosed: A migraine often fails to be correctly diagnosed in pediatric patients. These patients are not the typical migraine sufferers, but migraines can also occur in children. See misdiagnosis of migraine or introduction to migraine.
Chronic lung diseases hard to diagnose: Some of the chronic lung diseases are difficult to diagnose. Even the well-knowns conditions such as asthma or lung cancer often fail to be diagnosed early. Some of the chronic lung diseases with diagnostic difficulties include asthma (perhaps surprisingly), COPD, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, mesothelioma, smoker’s cough, AIDS-related respiratory conditions (see AIDS), chronic pneumonia, and other respiratory diseases. Rare possibilities include diseases like psittacosis (bird-related lung infection). See other types of chronic lung diseases.
Medical news summaries about misdiagnosis of Asthma:
The following medical news items are relevant to misdiagnosis of Asthma:
- Asthma overdiagnosed in Australia
- Boy misdiagnosed with asthma spreads tuberculosis for 10 months
- Breathing difficulties in obese people frequently misdiagnosed as asthma
- High numbers of children with asthma remain undiagnosed
- Hot tub can cause lung infection
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A sudden killer in young adults
- Misdiagnosed jailed man sues
- Obese women might be misdiagnosed with asthma
- Overweight asthmatics should be encouraged to lose weight
- Pulmonary hypertension often misdiagnosed
- Simple test usually reserved for those over 50 could uncover genetic emphysema
- Suspicion of asthma
- Unnecessary surgery for asthma misdiagnosed as dissecting aorta
- Vocal cord disorder commonly mistaken for asthma
- Woman misdiagnosed with 7 conditions before the real culprit of her disabling symptoms was discovered
General Misdiagnosis Articles
Read these general articles with an overview of misdiagnosis issues.
- Misdiagnosis Overview
- How Common is Misdiagnosis?
- Over-Diagnosed Diseases
- Under-Diagnosed Diseases
- Types of Misdiagnosis
- Wrong Type Misdiagnosis
- Why Does Misdiagnosis Occur?
- Difficult Diseases to Diagnose
- More premium medical articles …
About misdiagnosis:
When checking for a misdiagnosis of Asthma or confirming a diagnosis of Asthma, it is useful to consider what other medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative conditions relevant to diagnosis. These alternate diagnoses of Asthma may already have been considered by your doctor or may need to be considered as possible alternative diagnoses or candidates for misdiagnosis of Asthma. For a general overview of misdiagnosis
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Filed under: 05.asthma, 10.diagnosis-testing
