氣管敏感

林冰醫生強調，氣管敏感並不等同哮喘。「兩者的分別在於有哮喘者氣管一定敏感，但氣管敏感者不一定有哮喘。」醫生有時會安排氣管敏感測試來排除哮喘。做法是安排病人嗅某一種藥物，如果嗅到一定含量後，氣管仍不會縮窄，就可以排除哮喘。

至於哮喘，則是一個臨牀診斷，醫生根據病史病症就可以斷症。如病人進行肺功能測試後氣管收窄，用藥後得以紓緩，就表示氣管仍有明顯發炎，需加大用藥。

https://health.mingpao.com

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness is currently defined as an increase in sensitivity to a wide variety of airway narrowing stimuli. Most patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exhibit such an enhanced sensitivity. In asthma, in particular, this hypersensitivity is accompanied by excessive degrees of airway narrowing.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) is often regarded as a ‘hallmark’ of asthma and bronchoprovocation testing is frequently performed to support a diagnosis of asthma. However, BHR is also found in a spectrum of other lung diseases and can be provoked by a variety of specific stimuli.

https://academic.oup.com

BHR is a key pathophysiological feature of asthma. Even though there is no diagnostic test for asthma, bronchial provocation tests have been adopted to help confirm an asthma diagnosis. Drugs such as histamine and methacholine are commonly used for this purpose.

https://www.hkmj.org