Asthma & Pulmonary Function Test

Pulmonary Function Test and its various types consider an accurate indicator of the extent of changes that occur in the trachea and bronchi.

There are many ways to examine that function:

Usually used in the clinic or in the hospital:

Type I: (PEFR) test  is a tool to measure the extent of the exhale capacity of air and such a device can be  available with patient in  his home too ,  and serves as an observer to perform and improve lung function and patient symptoms during treatment or after termination. And the exhaled ability is calculated in litres, for example : The adult male can blow between 580-600 litres/minute while the capacity is, for women 480-500 litres/minute.

And the second type: which is used in the competent clinics where the test is done by computer and which way we can extract the ability of the disease in the breathing during inhalation and so exhalation , which helps to figure out which of the bronchi or bronchioles, there is more blockage than the other and in what proportion. Furthermore, we can detect the patient's responsiveness to bronchodilator , which helps to give the patient better treatment and in the appropriate period, finally there.

The third type: is a lung efficiency check, which is based on the so-called DL-CO carbon monoxide diffusion lung capacity, which is going to detect the extent to which oxygen passes from the air sacs of the lung into the blood in chronic bronchitis patient, or patient who suffering from an oxygen deficiency,or increase in CO2 level and this examination is often carried out inside the hospital.

It  should be noted here  that much of the changes that occur during patient examination in these devices are the result of influences around us in the environment in which we live:

Firstly: there ismany effects in the air such as dust or fumes of the factories materials or smoke from the mills to the other. And From irritants in industrial conditions

Second: chemical irritants occurring after exposure to materials used in cleaning houses, household appliances, and even personal items such as perfumes and makeup.

Thirdly: the irritants associated with fabrics and artificial tissues such as curtains, carpets, and the couches.

Fourthly: Irritants that may come from the presence of pets inside the house, such as cats, birds and ornamental foods.

It is worth mentioning that there is a special examination of patients to make sure they are allergic to these irritants where the tingling of the skin is done with the sensational substance of the irritation and detection of a reaction in the gel in the form of redness or circles, thus consisting of an idea of the patient being allergic to that irritant substance.

In the end we can say that the dirham of prevention is better than a pound of cure and avoiding irritating substances and abettors is one of the most important ways to avoid disease.

Dr. Hasan Qasem Jaafar

The specialty of chest diseases and intensive care diseases of the respiratory system and asthma and allergies