Sometimes the symptoms are very clear and doctors can easily conclude by just looking and listenening to them that asthma is responsible.

However, relying on symptoms can be misleading. For instance:

• Some people may have inflamed airways and none of the classic symptoms of asthma–in other words, their only physical symptoms are tiredness and a lack of interest in physical activity.
  
  
• Or some people may think their asthma is under control because they haven’t had an attack and yet all the while their airways are inflamed and vulnerable to another attack.
  
  
• Sometimes people can have asthma-like symptoms, but they are  actually caused by something other than asthma. For example, people who suffer from anxiety disorders or hyperventilation can display asthma-like symptoms like shortness of breath, Other conditions like vocal cord dysfunction, gastroesopharegal reflux or rhinosinusitis also cause asthma-like symptoms.