This document discusses several conditions that can mimic or be misdiagnosed as bronchial asthma, including vocal cord dysfunction, cardiac asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease, postnasal drip syndrome, and reactive airways dysfunction syndrome. It provides details on the clinical presentation and diagnostic criteria for each condition. The key points are that these "asthma mimics" are commonly treated as asthma, leading to overuse of medications and poor outcomes for patients, and a high index of suspicion for alternative diagnoses should be considered for patients who do not respond to typical asthma treatment. Diagnosis of the mimics often requires specialized testing like laryngoscopy.