Shortness of breath is one of the main complaints that sends people to the doctor's office. One of the tools used to help diagnose the cause of breathlessness is called a spirometer. This is a kind of pulmonary function monitor (PFM) and measures the volume of air inspired and expired through the lungs. The printed output from the device is a graph, and this can indicate whether the breathing dysfunction is restrictive or obstructive. Spirometers are constructed differently to enable different strategies for measuring the movement of air (pressure transducers, ultrasound, water gauge).
Lung function tests are utilized to eliminate the presence of serious pulmonary conditions such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis. They are also performed to assess the influence on the lungs of medications or ambient contaminants, to help determine the cause of breathlessness and to evaluate the progress of treatments. Lung function tests are also performed before surgery on the lungs to take benchmark measurements of lung activity.
Noted Roman physician, Claudius Galen, was the first to assess lung function. Some time during the second century AD, he got a boy to breath in and out into a bladder. Years later, people used inverted bell jars in water. Modern instruments include whole body plethysmography, peak flow meters and a device called a pneumotachometer.
According to the Mayo Clinic, shortness of breath may be defined as an intense chest tightening and a feeling of being suffocated. It may be confined to a single episode or it may become chronic. While it is important to rule out any serious problems underlying breathlessness, in most cases the root cause is harmless and easily curable.
There half a dozen or so red flag symptoms which, in conjunction with shortness of breath, may point to a serious problem. These red flags include being pale or tired all the time, a chronic cough or wheeze, swollen ankles, difficulty breathing when lying flat, a pain that worsens with exercise, a history of working around asbestos, industrial fumes, wood dust, or in a coal mine and any other persistent or unusual symptoms. If you experience any of the above, then you should consult your doctor.
Asthma, a chronic disease of the airways, is somewhat more serious. According to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, 18.9 million non-institutionalized adults have asthma at any one time. This represents 8.2 percent of that population.
Once all serious problems have been eliminated from consideration, many cases of shortness of breath can be attributed to one of two causes, muscle knots (aka trigger points) or dysfunctional breathing habits together with weak muscles. Treatment includes exercises to strengthen the muscles. For trigger points, therapy involves massage, which is almost always successful.
The spirometer is a device that has been in use for nearly two thousand years for the detection of breathlessness. It can identify whether breathlessness is present, but further investigations are required to rule out serious conditions like asthma. Once sinister problems have been ruled out, the cause of shortness of breath is most likely a combination of trigger points and dysfunctional breathing technique. This can be easily remedied with a regime of trigger point massage and breathing exercises.
Lung function tests are utilized to eliminate the presence of serious pulmonary conditions such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis. They are also performed to assess the influence on the lungs of medications or ambient contaminants, to help determine the cause of breathlessness and to evaluate the progress of treatments. Lung function tests are also performed before surgery on the lungs to take benchmark measurements of lung activity.
Noted Roman physician, Claudius Galen, was the first to assess lung function. Some time during the second century AD, he got a boy to breath in and out into a bladder. Years later, people used inverted bell jars in water. Modern instruments include whole body plethysmography, peak flow meters and a device called a pneumotachometer.
According to the Mayo Clinic, shortness of breath may be defined as an intense chest tightening and a feeling of being suffocated. It may be confined to a single episode or it may become chronic. While it is important to rule out any serious problems underlying breathlessness, in most cases the root cause is harmless and easily curable.
There half a dozen or so red flag symptoms which, in conjunction with shortness of breath, may point to a serious problem. These red flags include being pale or tired all the time, a chronic cough or wheeze, swollen ankles, difficulty breathing when lying flat, a pain that worsens with exercise, a history of working around asbestos, industrial fumes, wood dust, or in a coal mine and any other persistent or unusual symptoms. If you experience any of the above, then you should consult your doctor.
Asthma, a chronic disease of the airways, is somewhat more serious. According to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, 18.9 million non-institutionalized adults have asthma at any one time. This represents 8.2 percent of that population.
Once all serious problems have been eliminated from consideration, many cases of shortness of breath can be attributed to one of two causes, muscle knots (aka trigger points) or dysfunctional breathing habits together with weak muscles. Treatment includes exercises to strengthen the muscles. For trigger points, therapy involves massage, which is almost always successful.
The spirometer is a device that has been in use for nearly two thousand years for the detection of breathlessness. It can identify whether breathlessness is present, but further investigations are required to rule out serious conditions like asthma. Once sinister problems have been ruled out, the cause of shortness of breath is most likely a combination of trigger points and dysfunctional breathing technique. This can be easily remedied with a regime of trigger point massage and breathing exercises.
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