Well, I am slightly asthmatic (have been most of my life) and was cleared to fly the Vigi, so maybe it's not as cut and dried as you say. Have a CAA Class 2 aswell (couldn't get a Class 1, but that is for other reasons
)
And no, I made no attempt to cover it up, even when questioned by the (RAF) quack.
Anything more than the "gliding" medical, I probably would have run into trouble though, I suspect