A new Canadian study claimed that almost one-third of asthma patients might have been misdiagnosed. The results were obtained by Ottawa Hospital's resident respirologist Dr. Shawn Aaron, together with his fellow researchers. The group examined 613 patients who were pre-diagnosed with asthma under random selection from January 2012 to February 2016. During the study, patients underwent a series of bronchial tests using a home peak flow meter and spirometry to rate their progress. Based on the re-evaluation results of the study, a plurality of the participants might have been initially misdiagnosed.
Asthma is known as a chronic disease detrimental to the bronchial tube which serves as the passage of air to the lungs. It has already affected more than 300 million patients all over the globe. In the US alone, it is estimated that one out of 12, or about 25 million Americans, bear with this disease.
According to the study published in Medical News Today, a 'vast majority' of the tested patients whose asthma was not yet verified ceased medication for a year, and were found to have lived with any health hassle. The study also said that out of 613 who completed the study, Aaron and fellow researchers ruled out asthma from 203 study participants (33.1%).
Aaron's study published in JAMA, he also revealed 12 participants (2.0%) were diagnosed with serious cardiorespiratory conditions which might have been mistaken for asthma. After one year, 181 participants (29.5%) no longer manifested any condition of asthma. The study further concluded that participants who were ruled out of asthma might not have undergone proper airflow limitation testing compared to those confirmed with the disease.
According to an article published in iTech Post, fathers who smoke before the age of 15 could increase their unborn children's risk of obtaining asthma. The effect could be transmitted through the male sperm cells. About 4,000 chemicals enter the lungs when a person smokes.
References:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/315305.php
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2598265
https://www.itechpost.com/articles/34216/20160929/university-of-belgium-smoking-fathers-unborn-child.htm
