Spirometry

COPD is diagnosed through a series of assessments. A doctor will take into account the signs and symptoms and clinical presentation of the patient, as well as family history and test results. These tests include lung function test such as spirometry.. Other tests that may be used are Chest X-rays, CT scan of the chest and arterial blood gases. These tests, in addition to helping diagnosing COPD, can determine the severity of the disease process. Lung function tests measure how much air you can breathe in and out, how fast you can breathe air out, and how well your lungs deliver oxygen to your blood. The main test for COPD is spirometry. This test is done with the use of a spirometer in which the patient will blow as hard as they can…

The most common breathing test used to verify a pulmonary fibrosis diagnosis is spirometry. A pulmonary function test, such as the spirometry test, is a common office test that is used to assess how well your lungs are working by measuring how much air you inhale and exhale, and how quickly you exhale. Spirometry is used to diagnose asthma, pulmonary fibrosis and other diseases that affect breathing. This simple and painless test involves breathing into a large hose connected to a spirometer, a…

by healthcare providers. It is one disease that can be preventable and even treatable, but has not had any success in the areas. In the year 2000, there were more deaths in the United States from COPD in males and females (Chapman, 2006). The Center of Disease Control has information that is used for public health policies through out the country. Developing new data collections within existing surveys can promote new questions relating to COPD and the communities reliabilities. Improving the…

asthmatic episodes and maintaining a better lifestyle. Diagnoses The diagnosis for asthma is not an easy one to make but physicians do several tests in order to ensure that asthma is in fact the disease. First the doctor will ask a serious of questions about family health history in order to narrow down what could be happening to the patient and eliminate other respiratory infections. The doctor will then perform a series of tests starting with a physical exam which consists of listening to the…

Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung disease (GOLD, 2017) are frameworks that provide guidance for members of the MDT (multi-disciplinary team) to adhere to when diagnosing and treating patients. Both guidelines use spirometry alongside FEV1/FVC ratio, also known as the Tiffeneau-Pinelli index to diagnose COPD. However, in terms of diagnosis, senior healthcare professionals Gruffydd-Jones and Loveridge (2011) highlight the controversy that stands as to whether a fixed FEV1/FVC (forced…

patients how to perform deep breathing exercises during clinical practice. Another study was conducted by Borge et al. (2015) to test the effects of deep breathing on breathlessness and the breathing pattern in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This double- blind randomized controlled trial also supports the use of deep breathing as a self-management non- pharmacological procedure. The study shows that guided deep breathing has a beneficial effect on breathlessness and ineffective breathing…

with chronic cough and wheeze, dyspnea upon exertion due to increase work of breathing, air trapping, and progressive airflow obstruction (MacNee, 2006). Respiratory fatigue and alveolar hypoventilation decreases oxygenation leading to hypoxemia, hypercapnia, and respiratory acidosis which are usually late signs of disease progression (see Fig. 1). Respiratory failure and death may occur with increased hypoxia due to increased pulmonary vasoconstriction and pulmonary hypertension. Cor pumonale…

Reversibility test positive patients had all the cardinal symptoms of asthma. Conclusion The prevalence of asthma symptoms in Al-Doum village near the refinery was more than the general populations in Khartoum state Introduction Environmental exposure to petroleum refinery products poses a great threat to human health and the long-term effects of ambient air pollution on lung function have been investigated in many cross-sectional and some cohort studies. (1) Lung function is an objective…

Tests for COPD include; Spirometry, Bronchodilator Reversibility, Chest X-ray, Computed Tomography, and Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency Testing.  Spirometry helps tell how well your lungs are working. During this test, the patient will sit down and into a spirometer which evaluates how much is breathed in and out over the course of a minute and how much air is left in your lungs.  Bronchodilator Reversibility test is the same as the spirometry test except the patient is given a bronchodilator,…

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) – the most common form of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia – is a chronic, progressive fibrotic lung disease that affects older adults. IPF is characterized by a continuing decline in lung function, poor survival, and limited therapeutic options. The invasive proliferation of fibrous tissue and scarring of the interstitium lead to a decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) (Richeldi et al. 2014). IPF has a poor prognosis; the median survival for the disease is…