In the last post, I discussed COPD and asthma, and how to distinguish them. I introduced the topic of pulmonary function tests, or PFTs. Today, I would like to discuss PFTs in more detail. PFTs allow health care professionals to make the diagnosis of lung disease and to judge how severe it is. PFTs evaluate how well air can flow into and out of the lungs and how effective the lungs are at transferring gas from the air into the bloodstream. The ability of PFTs to diagnose lung disease or...
Function Of The Lungs
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Microwave Popcorn and Decreased Lung Function
By Sloane Miller, Health Expert
You won't look at popcorn and butter the same way again. One of the great pleasures of seeing a movie used to be getting popcorn... Read more »
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Lung Function and GERD
By Jennifer Rackley, Health Expert
As most of you know my little refluxer also has asthma. After talking with many parents it is very clear to me that we are not the only... Read more »
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Testing for Lung Disease: Screening Options and Next Steps
By Jane M. Martin, BA, LRT, CRT, Health Expert
I had my first colonoscopy last week. How was it? Well, pretty much just like they say, meaning that the procedure itself (not that I... Read more »
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Testing for Lung Disease: The Cost and Aftermath
By Jane M. Martin, BA, LRT, CRT, Health Expert
What does it cost to test for lung disease? Charges for each of these tests vary across the country, but here are some ranges. Now, before... Read more »
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Risk of Asthma in Infants and Toddlers that Wheeze
By James Thompson, MD, Health Expert
New Asthma NIH guidelines recommend early intervention in controlling inflammation associated with asthma. Inhaled steroids are... Read more »
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Spiriva improves lung function in patients with mild COPD
Drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim has announced results from a recent study that show that Spiriva significantly improves lung function in patients with... Read more »
Pulmonary function tests
Source: ADAM Encyclopedia
Pulmonary function tests are a group of tests that measure how well the lungs take in and release air and how well they move gases such as oxygen... Read more »
Measuring Pain's Ability to Interfere with Function
Source: eOrthopod
In this study, researchers used a self-report survey tool called the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) to compare two groups of pain patients. The first... Read more »
Gut Check: Understanding the Immune Function in Your GI Tract
By Abby Sauer, MPH, RD, LDDid you know that your gastrointestinal (GI) tract is home to 100 trillion bacterial cells?That is equal to about 3 pounds... Read more »
Statins slow lung decline, study finds
A Harvard study of more than 800 people has found that cholesterol-lowering meds may also slow age-related lung function loss. Patients in the study... Read more »
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