http://n.yam.com/afp/life/200811/20081119686060.html
未適當檢驗 逾三成氣喘患者據報可能無病
法新社╱張仲琬 2008-11-19 23:50
（法新社渥太華18日電）今天公佈的研究報告指出，1/3的加拿大氣喘患者可能都遭到醫師誤診。研究認為，已開發國家氣喘病例暴增是因為未進行適當檢驗。
「加拿大醫學會期刊」（Canadian Medical Association Journal）刊登的研究報告指出：「約1/3經醫師診斷罹患氣喘的民眾，並未患有氣喘。」
「研究發現，加拿大等已開發國家診斷出的氣喘病例過多。」
全球數百萬民眾可能為了治療這種慢性呼吸疾病，不但花費高昂醫療費用，並無謂地改變生活作息。罹患氣喘時，呼吸道會因過敏原、冷空氣、運動或情緒壓力等刺激而突然收縮。
1980年到1994年之間，加拿大與美國的氣喘罹患率增加了75%。
加拿大統計署（Statistics Canada）指出，2005年，8.3%的12歲以上兒童經診斷患有氣喘。寰宇藥品資料管理公司加拿大分公司（IMS Health Canada）指出，2007年，醫師共開出340萬份頂級氣喘藥物的處方，總支出近3億2900萬加幣。
最新資料顯示，全球約有3億人罹患氣喘，並可望在2025 年增至4億。
加拿大研究人員表示，晚近氣喘症狀與診斷出的病例之所以增加，或許是對此病的警覺性提高，而其原因之一在藥廠宣傳新式氣喘藥物。
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081118/hl_afp/canadahealthresearchasthma_081118192337;_ylt=AibbpeQrgWzPgqyguaxT4TuJOrgF
One-third of asthma cases not asthma: study
by Michel Comte – Tue Nov 18, 2:23 pm ET
OTTAWA (AFP) – One-third of Canadians with asthma have likely been wrongly diagnosed by their doctor, said a study Tuesday that blames an explosion of asthma cases in developed countries on lack of proper testing.
"About one-third of individuals with physician-diagnosed asthma did not have asthma," said the study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).
"This finding suggests that, in developed countries such as Canada, asthma is over-diagnosed."
Thus, millions of people worldwide may be taking costly medications and making life changes needlessly to treat the chronic respiratory disorder in which airways suddenly constrict in response to allergens, cold air, exercise, or emotional stress.
Between 1980 and 1994, the prevalence of asthma increased by 75 percent in Canada and the United States.
In 2005, 8.3 percent of Canadians aged 12 or older were identified as having asthma, said Statistics Canada. And in 2007, 3.4 million prescriptions were issued for the top asthma medications, at a total cost of nearly 329 million Canadian dollars (268 million US), according to IMS Health Canada.
Globally, the latest data indicates 300 million people have asthma and the figure is projected to rise to 400 million cases by 2025.
The Canadian researchers said the higher prevalence of both symptoms and diagnoses of late may be due to increased awareness of the disorder, stemming in part from the pharmaceutical industry's advertising of new asthma medications.
The Canadian study looked at 540 individuals diagnosed with asthma, putting them through a battery of tests that showed a third of them actually did not have the disorder.
Based on its findings, researchers estimated that less than half of Canadians diagnosed with asthma underwent a test used to measure lung function, called spirometry.
The test is said to be one of the most efficient ways to diagnose asthma and other pulmonary diseases, but it is costly and time consuming.
This lack of proper testing is "unacceptable," said CMAJ deputy editor Matthew Stanbrook and Alan Kaplan of the Family Physician Airways Group of Canada, in an editorial on the Canadian Medical Association Journal's website.
"A physician who attempted to manage hypertension without measuring blood pressure or to manage hypercholesterolemia without measuring serum cholesterol levels would not be considered to be maintaining an adequate standard of care," they said.
"Treating asthma without having performed at least spirometry is no different."
Some inhaled steroids used to control the symptoms of asthma, doctors note, have been linked to cataracts, glaucoma and osteoporosis.
Also, Health Canada has warned of the possible increased risk of death associated with use of some asthma medications.
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