Help please

Posted , 4 users are following.

FEV1 of 0.83L 26% predicted 3.20L 79% predicted and a ratio of 25.

can someone explain all of this please

1 like, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • Posted

    Tis a shame that healthcare professionals never explain the meaning of this or, more importantly the relevance. I thought that the object of the spirometry tests was to determine total lung capacity so I always exhaled as consistantly and for as long as possible.

    Wrong !

    I recently found out (from a link on the COPD UK Facebook group's page) that FEV1 means the volume of air you exhale in the 1st second of the test so reflects the efficiency of one's lungs, tubes etc. As such, the percentage figure is used to categorise sufferers into 3 or 4 groups but either way, 26% is in the pretty severe category. Wlcome to the clan !

    Mine last year was between 15 and 18% and on the strength of this (of should I say "weakness of this") I was deemed too far gone for any remedial surgery. 

    Perhaps if I had exhaled more forcibly for the 1st second, things might have been different ??

    • Posted

      Thank you for that.  I know it is not good I just want to know whether it is very severe or not.  Not sitting you down and telling you how it is makes for a more worrying time.
    • Posted

      Absolutely !

      This is where help groups like this come into their own. Don't be worried that at 26% you are going to be classed as 'chronic' (or some similar epiphet) because there are many other factors apart from Fev1 which determine how well we feel, how well we keep and indeed how long we live. My Fev1 was like yours in the far off days of 2007 but I'm still here (just).

      BTW Which country & county do live in (as care & support differs widely) ?

    • Posted

      One more thing - does 26% mean 26%lung function?
  • Posted

    Hi Nanny

    Best plan is to Google FEV1 as there is a comprehensive Wiki on the subject plus useful articles from Everydayhealth.

    But don't scare yourself too much - read them with a glass of wine at your side !

    Happy Xmas

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