(1) Inquiry for predisposing causes including inhaling of allergic or non-allergic substances, infection, climatic change, certain medicines and food, and emotional irritation should be made.
(2) Paroxysmal expiratory dyspnea accompanied by wheezing is the typical symptom. At the early stage, patients often experience itching nose and throat, sneezing, nasal discharge and cough. Then expiratory dyspnea occurs abruptly with difficult and prolonged expiration accompanied by wheezing. Abundant white sticky sputum may appear at the resolving stage, while purulent sputum may occur after bacterial
(3) Physical signs include orthopnea, nares flaring, shoulders heave, chest undulation, distention of jugular vein, over-inflated chest, hyperresonant thoracic percussion note, reduced border of cardiac dullness, diminution of breathing sounds, prolonged expiration, wheezing sound in the whole chest (appearing mainly at the expiratory stage, also at the inspiratory period in deteriorated cases). When the condition gets worse, dyspnea becomes more severe but wheezing sounds are reduced. Continue to learn Chinese medicine treatment for Asthma.
(4) High total leukocyte and neutrophil count in the peripheral blood when complicated by infection, high eosinophil count, Charcot-Leyden crystals formed by the membrane protein of eosinophilic granulocyte appearing in sputum, and high count of serum IgE and IgG in exogenous asthma.
(5) Senstinogen skin test and inspiratory provocative test can be applied to detect the senstinogen.
