title: The definition and diagnosis of asthma.
abstract: Asthma defies precise definition, despite several carefully worded statements. Perhaps the most concise and useful description of asthma is "variable airflow obstruction". The diagnosis is made by recognition of a patterns of one or more characteristic symptoms including wheeze, cough, chest tightness and dyspnoea, and is best confirmed by evidence of variable or reversible airflow obstruction accompanying symptoms.
authors.affiliation: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Sears
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001980:Bronchi / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics