Is it asthma? Many diagnosed with condition receive unnecessary or incorrect treatment

As many as 1 in 3 adults diagnosed with asthma may not actually have the disease, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Canadian researchers evaluated 613 patients with physician-diagnosed asthma and found that 203 participants (33%) most likely did not have the disease. After an additional 12 months of follow-up of this latter group, 181 subjects (30%) continued to exhibit no clinical or laboratory evidence of asthma.
This study, and its accompanying editorials, hit on a theme we’ve often raised with regard to cancer and many other chronic diseases: overdiagnosis leading to overtreatment. But it also raises the specter of misdiagnosis from the get-go, which can lead to erroneously treating a condition that isn’t there.....

Read more here: healthnewsreview.org

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Girl, 13, begged for help to clean putrid house before death from asthma attack

A YOUNG “morbidly obese” girl who died from asthma in a “putrid” rodent and mould infested home called authorities begging for someone to clean up her public housing home just months before her death.
New light can today be shed on one of the most sickening child abuse cases in NSW history — exposing just how badly the 13-year-old was let down before her death.....

Read more here: dailytelegraph.com.au

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Cold and flu trigger asthma attacks

Know the facts
-    Upper respiratory infections (colds) and influenza (flu) are viruses that affect the airways in the lungs.
-    Children in school or daycare are at a higher risk of getting more colds and the flu.
-    If your child starts with a cold or the flu, make sure to follow the asthma action plan created with your doctor.....

Read more here: chrichmond.org