What are the new advances in asthma diagnosis?

What are the new advances in asthma diagnosis?

William Berger (Allergist and Immunologist) gives expert video advice on: How is asthma treated?; How important is it to identify my asthma triggers?; What side effects should I expect from my asthma medication? and more...

There is a tool on the horizon that should be available very soon that is called exhaled nitric oxide. When you have asthma you have inflammation of the cells that line your lungs. These cells produce a gas called nitric oxide which is a byproduct of inflammation. When the inflammation occurs the nitric oxide level goes up and this device measures that elevated level of nitric oxide. It helps the diagnosis of asthma to be made by the physician because there are a lot of reasons why people can cough and wheeze and this way you can diagnose that the patient has asthma. Even more importantly, the level goes down when the patient is being treated with inhaled corticosteroids and so we are able to tell if the medication is working and we're also able to tell if the patient is taking their medications. One of the things that I think we're going to see in the future which is not available quite yet is genetic testing for patients that will also help us to not only diagnose asthma but predict the severity of the asthma and even determine which medications will work for their particular type of asthma. There are certainly a lot of exciting things to look forward to and the future is bright for patients with asthma.