There’s a lot of confusion surrounding reactive airway disease (RAD) and asthma. Specifically, what exactly is reactive airway disease, and isn’t it just asthma? As is the case with most medical questions, the answer is both yes and no.
Many experts suggest that reactive airway disease is used as a sort of catch-all diagnosis for people with coughing, excessive mucus, wheezing, and other symptoms that are similar to asthma. It’s often used to diagnose small children with respiratory conditions, since diagnosis for asthma is rarely accurate until age six.
That being said, reactive airway disease can be considered a disease in and of itself. However, both RAD and asthma are caused by overactive airway response to specific triggers. Moreover, some experts assert that doctors tend to use the RAD label when appropriate testing or history isn’t available.
The trick is that RAD should be a temporary diagnosis. If symptoms continue for at least six months, chances are good that what the patient is actually dealing with is, in fact, asthma. Unfortunately, the RAD diagnosis tends to stick, but it isn’t necessarily accurate. If you or your child have been diagnosed with reactive airway disease, talk to another doctor that can provide you with appropriate diagnosis and treatment.
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