Health Professions Assignment: Task 1 - Article Comparison

This report provides an analysis of two articles concerning asthma. The first article, published by the British Medical Journal, offers foundational information about asthma, including symptoms, diagnosis, and various tests such as Chest X-rays, Pulmonary Function Tests, and allergy testing. The second article, from the Daily Mail, presents research findings on asthma, highlighting that a significant portion of asthma patients are misdiagnosed and that proper testing is crucial. The report compares the key facts presented in each article, outlines their main arguments, and examines the evidence provided. Furthermore, it differentiates the language used in both texts, noting the medical terminology in the BMJ article versus the more accessible language in the Daily Mail piece, which includes research-based content and statistical data. The report emphasizes the importance of accurate diagnosis and the potential consequences of misdiagnosis, especially considering the chronic nature of asthma and the need for continuous evaluation of patients' conditions.

HEALTH PROFESSIONS
TASK 1

Table of Contents
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1. Key facts of the articles......................................................................................................1
2. Outline of main argument...................................................................................................1
3. Evidence of the articles......................................................................................................2
4. Difference in the language of the two texts........................................................................2
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

TASK 1
1. Key facts of the articles
The first article being published by British Medical Journal, named, 'Asthma in Adults'
which covered basic information about asthma. Following are the key facts that are presented in
the article:
 It included that the history of the Asthma patients include recurring dyspnoea, wheezing
and coughing. Mostly the patients face night symptoms where they wake up in the middle
of the night due to short breathlessness.
 They may also face seasonal asthma attack as well. Physical examination is commonly
performed on the patients suffering from bronchial asthma (Moorman and et.al., 2012).
 Doctors normally examines nasal passage and through chest auscultation where wheezing
sound can be heard through the stethoscope. Primary tests performed by the doctors
include, Chest X-Ray and Full Blood Count. For further examination, doctors also opt for
Pulmonary Function Test (PFT), Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) etc. Nitrogen Oxide
level a patient is exhaling is also monitored with sputum eosinophilia.
 Allergy test is also performed to understand the possible allergic components a person
may have. It is done through skin-prick testing and immunoassay though different
chemical substances (Wenzel, 2012).
The second article published by daily mail, named, 'The great asthma myth', is a research
study conducted on 613 asthma patients. Following are the key facts included in the article:
 It revealed that one third of the patients were wrongly diagnosed. Further, it disclosed
that a proper series of test were not conducted by the doctors and medication were given
based on the symptoms the patient was facing.
 There are around 53.4 million people in UK who are under treatment of Asthma where
one in every 12 adults and one in every 11 children are suffering from Asthma.
 British Scientists diagnosed that a tablet named fevipiprant which can reduce down lung
inflammation and can help in repairing damaged airways of lungs.
 2% of the sample patients had serious condition including pulmonary hypertension and
heart disease which were misinterpreted as asthma by the doctors.
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 The study highlighted that Asthma is a chronic conditions which is difficult to be
properly diagnosed. It requires constant revision of tests and medications as asthma
patient experience change in the condition with time.
2. Outline of main argument
The main outline of the article published in British Medical Journal is that primary
diagnosis of asthma can be prepared based on signs and symptoms, a patient is facing. Doctors
prefer to conduct various test such as, Chest X-ray, FBC, PFT, allergy testing etc., in order to
confirm the diagnosis. These are reliable tests and helps the doctor that what all medicines will
be effective and will suit the patient. It is important to make a correct diagnosis by effectively
conducting the test in order to find the state of the patient and type of asthma as well.
The main argument of the second article published in daily mail is a research study which
has revealed that 33% of the patients have been misdiagnosed. It is due to the proper tests were
not conducted by the doctors while medications were given based on the symptoms of the
person. It is a disease which needs to constantly examined after a specific period as patients
recover with time and disease no longer remain active. However, experts revealed that children
take asthma inhalers as fashion accessory and opt to keep it with them and take it despite of no
emergency taking place.
3. Evidence of the articles
The first article have suggested various methods that can be used to diagnose asthma.
Every test conducted by the doctor helps in revealing the state of the patient. Chest X-Ray and a
Complete Blood Count is the initial work up performed by the doctors. It helps in understanding
that whether the person is actually suffering from the disease or not. Pulmonary Function Test
(PFT) is an effective way to assess airflow obstruction. The Peak Expiratory Flow Rate helps in
finding out occupational asthma. However, the accuracy of the results may depend on the efforts
of the patient. Allergy testing is the another method where chemicals are inserted on the human
body in order to find out possible allergic components. A skin prick test is the another method
that can be used to conduct allergen-specific experiment (Holgate, 2012).
The second article reveals that it is important to assess I the person is actually suffering
from asthma or from any other disease. A wrong diagnosis may lead to death as the doctors
sometimes misinterpret heart diseases with asthma. A research revealed that doctor do not even
primary chest X-ray and start giving symptomatic treatment to the patients. It results in
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misdiagnosis of the disease and person may have to face side effects of medications (Lambrecht
and Hammad, 2012). Further, NHS watch dog NICE revealed that one third of the asthmatic
patients do not show any clinical sign of the disease and have been taken continuous treatment of
asthma. The doctors misdiagnose these patients.
4. Difference in the language of the two texts
The first article contains general content having various medical terms. It may be a bit
complex language for the people who are not from the medical background. They may face
problems in understanding the medical terms that are being included in the article. Further, it is
giving a basic overview of a particular disease which includes, signs and symptoms, history,
physical examination conducted by the doctor and test conducted to understand the nature of the
disease (Petsky and et.al., 2012).
However, the text of the second article is quite different from the first one. It consists of
the research based content whose language is a bit lucid and clear in comparison to the first one.
The person may require a bit of statistical knowledge in order to understand the data content
being discussed. Moreover, the author have presented various opinions in support of his
arguments. It has helped to understand the topic in a better way.
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REFERENCES
Holgate, S. T., 2012. Innate and adaptive immune responses in asthma.Nature medicine. 18(5).
pp.673-683.
Lambrecht, B. N. and Hammad, H., 2012. The airway epithelium in asthma.Nature
medicine. 18(5). p.684.
Moorman, J. E. and et.al., 2012. National surveillance of asthma: United States, 2001-2010. Vital
& health statistics. Series 3, Analytical and epidemiological studies. 7(35). pp.1-58.
Petsky, H. L. and et.al., 2012. A systematic review and meta-analysis: tailoring asthma treatment
on eosinophilic markers (exhaled nitric oxide or sputum eosinophils). Thorax. 67(3).
pp.199-208.
Wenzel, S. E., 2012. Asthma phenotypes: the evolution from clinical to molecular
approaches. Nature medicine. 18(5). pp.716-725.
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