What is the difference between childhood asthma and adult-onset asthma?
Symptoms of asthma in children may come and go, while symptoms of adult-onset asthma may be continuous. People with adult-onset asthma may need to take medication every day to manage asthma. Adults tend to have lower lung capacity (the volume of air you are able to take in and forcibly exhale in one second) after middle age because of changes in muscles and stiffening of chest walls. This decreased capacity may cause doctors to miss the diagnosis of adult-onset asthma. How is adult-onset asthma diagnosed? Your asthma doctor may diagnose adult-onset asthma by: • Taking a medical history, asking about symptoms, and listening to you breathe • Performing a lung function test, using a device called a spirometer to measure how much air you can exhale after first taking a deep breath. The device also measures how fast you can empty your lungs. You may be asked at some time before or after the test to inhale a short-acting bronchodilator (medicine that opens the airways by relaxing tight muscl
