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Essay On Spirometry

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I am going to presume that if you are reading this article on Jane’s website, you have COPD [or other lung disease]. I am also going to take a big leap and presume that you have all done a breathing test called spirometry? I ask this because statistics show that a surprising number of people have been diagnosed with COPD, but have never had spirometry done. That is like diagnosing a patient with diabetes without ever testing their blood sugar level. Spirometry is done using a piece of equipment called a spirometer. The term spiro comes from the Latin language and means to breathe, and meter (derived from either Old English, French or Greek…take your pick) means to measure. The spirometer is not a new invention. In 1846 an Englishman named John …show more content…

These patients cannot easily exhale all of their air, leaving some air in the lungs at the end of exhalation. We refer to this as air trapping. Patients with the Little Lung Syndrome can’t get air in because something is restricting the flow of gas into their lungs. Imagine someone putting a wide, very tight belt around your rib cage…what would happen when you tried to take in a deep breath? You couldn’t! With restrictive disease; pulmonary fibrosis, interstitial lung disease, asbestosis, etc…your lungs are very stiff, and they do not inflate easily, so it is hard to take in a deep breath. If after doing a spirometry test, the therapist determines that your lungs are not functioning normally, we give the results to your doctor and he/she will order more specific tests in a pulmonary function lab to see what exactly the problem is. You have no doubt heard or read the National Lung Health Education Program (NLHEP) slogan; “Test your lungs, know your numbers”. Spirometry gives you the numbers. If you have high cholesterol, you know your numbers…I know, because I do. I also know that I do not have diabetes because I know my

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