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Is 'Getting Healthy' on Your Resolution List? Start with a Pulmonary Function Test
If getting healthy is on your resolution list this year, don’t forget the organs that fuel every workout, every thought, and every heartbeat, like your lungs. Every breath delivers oxygen to your body and clears out carbon dioxide, yet lung health is often overlooked until symptoms start.
A pulmonary function test (PFT) is a simple exam that reveals how well your lungs work long before problems arise.
At Respacare in Bridgewater, New Jersey, our respiratory experts, Dr. Nehal Mehta and Dr. Prashant Patel, share why lungs deserve a spot on your New Year’s wellness resolution list and how a pulmonary function test can help you start the year heading in the right direction.
Lung health for wellness
Getting healthy is a popular New Year’s goal, but true wellness goes far beyond weight or fitness milestones. Your lungs quietly support every system in your body. They deliver oxygen to your cells, remove waste gases, and play a major role in supporting energy, sleep, immune health, and healthy aging.
Despite this, most people don’t give their lungs much thought until symptoms like shortness of breath show up. A pulmonary function test can give you insight into lung health, whether you have symptoms or not.
What is a pulmonary function test?
A PFT is a diagnostic tool that helps us better understand how well your lungs work. It evaluates:
- The amount of air inhaled and exhaled
- The rate of air movement in and out of the lungs
- The amount of air lungs can hold
- How efficiently oxygen moves from lungs to bloodstream
The information gathered from a PFT can help us evaluate lung strength, diagnose breathing disorders, and monitor how well treatments are working. Best of all, the test is quick and safe.
How a PFT supports getting healthy
While there are many tools available to check on your health, the PFT is the gold standard test for understanding lung performance. Getting a PFT as part of your health journey establishes a baseline measure for your lungs, helping us:
- Find issues before symptoms
- Create a custom fitness plan to support lung health
- Monitor changes over time
A PFT may also help you stay motivated as you make changes to achieve wellness goals. The test provides objective improvement data, which can help you see how well your plan is working.
What happens during the test
A PFT is a painless and straightforward evaluation. Wear comfortable clothing, and skip strenuous exercise before the exam to get accurate results. The particulars of your PFT depend on the type of tests performed:
Spirometry
Spirometry measures how much air you breathe in and out. We place a soft clip on your nose and have you breathe through a mouthpiece connected to the spirometer.
Body plethysmography
The body plethysmography measures the amount of air your lungs hold when inhaling and exhaling (lung capacity). For this test, we place you in an airtight box, clip your nose, and have you breathe in and out. We use the pressure changes in the box to determine your lung capacity.
Gas diffusion study
A gas diffusion study measures how effectively oxygen moves from your lungs to your bloodstream. You inhale a harmless gas mixture that contains a small amount of carbon monoxide and a tracer gas. You hold your breath briefly and then exhale.
We measure the amount of tracer gas in the exhaled breath to see how much your lungs absorb.
Pulmonary stress test
A pulmonary stress test evaluates how well your lungs function during strenuous activity. We also monitor and measure your blood pressure and heart rate during this test.
After your PFT
Once you complete your test, we review your results with you and discuss steps to maintain or improve lung health. If you make PFTs part of your New Year’s health routine, we can track changes over time and fine-tune your plan to help you stay on track with your goals.
Is getting healthy one of your New Year’s resolutions? Scheduling baseline health screenings, like the pulmonary function test, is a good place to start. Let us help you build a healthier year by evaluating your lung health and providing personalized guidance.
Call us today or request an appointment online to get started.
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