Misconceptions

• Many people believe that an asthma attack must involve wheezing. While this can be true, an asthma attack can also involve coughing or shortness of breath without any wheezing.
  
  

Symptoms in Adults

• Asthma can involve shortness of breath, coughing, or chest pressure. Many people mistake these symptoms for other causes and never seek a diagnosis for asthma.
  
  

Symptoms in Children

• The most common symptom (and frequently only symptom) of childhood asthma is coughing, which can be mistaken for a cold or recurring bronchitis.
  
  

Lung Testing

• Unfortunately, many children are unable to perform lung testing adequately, so the doctor must rely upon the parent's description of symptoms to diagnose childhood asthma.
  
  

Denial

• Because many people do not want to believe that they suffer from asthma, they attribute the symptoms to other things. Without being told about the symptoms, a doctor is likely to miss diagnosing asthma during a routine medical exam.