Academician Zhong Nanshan calls for:

Measuring lung function should become a routine examination like measuring blood pressure!

 

Why do we need to undergo a 'lung function test'?

Why do authoritative organizations and individuals strongly call for routine lung function tests?
 

 

Respiratory system diseases are common, frequent, and have significant harm, and are one of the main diseases affecting the health of the Chinese people. There is an overall lack of diagnosis and treatment for respiratory system diseases in our country, and pulmonary function testing, as the most commonly used screening and diagnostic technique, lacks public awareness and enthusiasm for pulmonary function testing. Ordinary people know that blood pressure is routinely measured during physical examinations, and hypertensive patients also know how to monitor blood pressure daily to adjust the use of antihypertensive drugs. However, not many ordinary people know about lung function tests, and even fewer have actually undergone lung function tests.

 

Academician Zhong Nanshan said, "Early intervention of diseases is particularly important. Many diseases, especially lung diseases, do not have obvious symptoms in the early stage. However, if early screening and intervention can be carried out, they can completely stop developing and patients can live a healthy life. Common respiratory diseases include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer, which actually have simple examination methods, such as lung function measurement instruments CT Inspection, etc. However, many patients and even some grassroots doctors do not have sufficient understanding and are rarely able to diagnose with a single examination in a timely and simple manner. Taking chronic respiratory disease COPD as an example, patients usually only go for examination after experiencing symptoms such as walking wheezing, coughing, and persistent sputum production. However, by this stage, lung function has actually been damaged by about half or more, and the best treatment opportunity has been lost. Years of research have found that even a small amount of medication intervention can significantly improve lung function in early patients. If patients persist, they will not progress III Period IV It can even lead to disability

 

The latest epidemiological statistics nationwide show that the incidence of bronchial asthma (asthma) is 1.24%, and the incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the population over 40 years old is 13.7%. The number of deaths caused by COPD in China is about 1 million per year, and COPD has become the third leading cause of death after cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and malignant tumors. The "gold standard" for diagnosing COPD is lung function examination. Chronic airway diseases, especially chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), have become one of the main chronic diseases that restrict public health. Pulmonary function tests play a central role in the overall management of chronic respiratory diseases. The Healthy China Action clearly proposes to include lung function testing as a routine physical examination item for people aged 40 and above.

 

What is a 'lung function test'?

Pulmonary function examination is a method of assessing lung ventilation function by measuring respiratory volume, flow rate, pressure, and analyzing the composition of respiratory gases, in order to understand the functional status of respiratory organs and tissues. Pulmonary function examination is one of the necessary examinations for respiratory system diseases, mainly used to detect the patency of the respiratory tract and the size of lung volume. It has important clinical value in early detection of lung and airway lesions, evaluation of the severity and prognosis of the disease, assessment of the efficacy of drugs or other treatment methods, identification of the causes of respiratory distress, diagnosis of lesion location, evaluation of lung function tolerance to surgery or labor intensity, and monitoring of critically ill patients.

 

Who needs to have their lung function checked?

1. People who smoke for a long time or have secondhand smoke;

2. Personnel who work in hazardous environments such as dust, toxic gases, and heavy metal particles for a long time;

3. People who rely on biofuels such as firewood and charcoal for cooking and heating for a long time, or are frequently exposed to indoor air pollution such as kitchen fumes;

4. People living in areas with severe air pollution;

5. Long term chronic cough, sputum production, suspected chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, bronchiectasis, interstitial lung disease and other diseases;

6. Those who experience chest tightness and shortness of breath after activities, especially those whose symptoms gradually worsen during the activity process;

7. If there is difficulty breathing and the cause is unknown, it is necessary to identify the cause and determine the location of airway obstruction;

For patients undergoing thoracic or upper abdominal surgery, preoperative lung function tests can assess surgical tolerance and the possibility of postoperative complications;

For individuals aged 90 and above, it is recommended to undergo a pulmonary function test once a year.

 

The significance and characteristics of pulmonary function examination:

When patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease reach the middle and later stages of their 60s, especially if they continue to smoke, shortness of breath becomes more severe after exertion. Pneumonia and other lung infections occur more frequently. Even when the patient is resting

1. It has significant implications for clinical diagnosis and treatment guidance
It has significant value in disease diagnosis, severity rating, efficacy evaluation, and disease outcomes;
 

2. Non traumatic
Compared to bronchoscopy, which is an invasive examination, chest examination X Lines, lungs CT The presence of radiation and other factors in the examination results in almost non-invasive lung function tests;
 

3. Convenient for repeated testing
It can be tested repeatedly at different times of the day or within a certain period of time to understand the changes, development, and prognosis of the disease;
 

4. Suitable for the management of chronic respiratory diseases
Due to the possibility of repeated examinations, long-term tracking and follow-up can be conducted for the management of respiratory chronic diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.