lung age

I've got a lung age of 73 what does that mean?

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I have no idea. Who told you this?

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It was on my spirometry result!

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Dont understand, but i am very interested to know what it means!!! How did you find this out?

Happy Bday, Lol

Holly- May x

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Oh i see. guess we posted at the same time then! hehe lol x

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weird. I've never heard of 'lung age' and I've been doing spirometry for donkey's yonks .... that's not to say there isn't such a thing, just that I've never heard of it. All my spirometry usually tells me is that my breathing's c***, but then most of the time I could've told them that without having done the tests.

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It was near the bottom of the spirometry result!

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I'd probably pay more attention to what the actual results of the spirometry were, rather than focussing on 'lung age'. After all, the results are going to be a better comparison for future reference.

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yea I know - was just curious as to what it meant!

My peak flow is 240 today

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Oh sure, I can understand the curiosity. If you get a chance, why not ask the doc/nurse next time you see them?

How does a pf of 240 compare with others for you?

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‘Lung Age’

In addition to comparing patients FEV1 results with the predicted reference values for normal subjects, estimation of ‘Lung Age’ can be used to demonstrate to smokers the damage caused to their lungs by smoking in a way they can understand. The ‘Lung Age’ estimation is based on a patients FEV1 results and predicted values. A ‘Lung Age’ example; a 40 year old 5’9” (1.75m) male smoker has an FEV1 of 3.4L giving an estimated ‘Lung Age’ of 52 years. This is because the FEV1 is 100% of the predicted value that a 52 year old would be expected to get.

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My highest has been 350 my lowest 170 I seem to average around 180-200

My FEV1 is that of a 73 year old!

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btw I am a non-smoker and have been all my life

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Well looking at that definition of 'lung age' I reckon I should most certainly be well over 100. This is just a guess, but my best FEV1 on day of discharge from hospital last week was 0.7 l. This is about as good as it gets for me, or at least has been for the past few years.

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My FEV1 on the reversability test was 2.04 before that test it was 1.67

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I knew I felt older than 32! ;oP

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I last saw this at RBH ages ago and it actually made me giggle mine said 'lung age: over 100 years' I said well I could of told you that anyway :-p. Seriously though I believe its just used to scare smokers into giving up. Nothing to get hung up on.

Tks xx

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I am an odd one me, mine is 2.8l which is slightly higher than average for my age and height however I have a form of asthma whereby I continue to experience symptoms despite this and even a small fall in my peak flow or lung function can cause a significant deterioration in symptoms hence why I am on so much treament though we are trying to reduce my steroid dose.

Unfortunately it has taken many years to diagnose and its been a very rocky road along the way however, I have recently been refered to a respiritory specialist who recognised immediately what was happening.

Wanda

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I have been told its not always what the tests say but how you feel and being as I bounced into see my cons last week yet spriometry showed another decline Im sticking with how I feel and stuff the results.Thankfully he agreed on that theroy to.

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Yup Speedy, that's the theory I go on too. Pay too much attention to numbers and you end up freaking yourself out, imo.

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I'm confused I've only ever been told Sean's fev1 etc in % ,lowest I've seen is 35 and Highest after very long admission with every IV and buckets iv methyl pred it was 87. Are your numbers just translated differently or are they a different tests?

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Hi Julie,

As far as I know, FEV1 is measured in litres, but this can be converted to give a percentage of expected result. I don't know what the formula for this is but I'd be interested to know.

Becky.

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The percentage is calculated based on your predicted result according to your age, height and sex.

This website has a table which will calculate your predicted result, and also explains a bit about spirometry:

patient.co.uk/showdoc/40002...

(if you don't know your FVC just put in any number, as long as it's bigger than the FEV1, and ignore the results for FVC and FEV1/FVC ratio)

I think it's important not to get too hung up on spiro results, though - what's 'normal' for you can vary widely from person to person, so the predicted value isn't always accurate. Symptoms and exercise tolerance are probably much more important than the actual numbers.

Em

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Thanks for that EmH - it's very interesting. I'm so glad that I don't pay too much attention to these kinds of figures (I like to know what they are out of interest, but usually go by how I feel), because according to those results my FEV1 is 10% of what it should be and my FVC is 16%

I think I'll stick with perception. Though I find it amazing how we adapt to lowering FEV1/FVC/PEFR over time. I remember the days when I used to be to get an FEV1 of 3.7l (back when I was 15), and when my pf was 580 (way above average). It used to be that if I hit a pf of 300 then I had to go straight to costa and would be struggling hard, but now 300 is my absolute best that I haven't seen for a long while, and spend most of my time hovering around 200. I don't suppose you can explain how it is we adapt to these changes, can you? (though only if you're up to it!)

Becky.

[Kendavis359]

Duovent

My lungs have aged since not using Duovent inhaler, back in 2003.

Does anybody use the duovent nebules these days or are they no longer used by the doctors even though they are available. Why use nebules but not the inhalers.

Whats the difference.

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Wanda I thought you were not on long term steriods. My best FEV1 blown at the RBH is 3.5 with excellent techinque Having a good one on record helps no end cos when I am not well they can see just how good I can be and how bad I am, trouble is like my best PF they have on record I also can't kid them

Bex

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It is certainly worth bearing in mind that many asthmatics will have extremely variable results based on how their chest was behaving at the time. Sadly this isn't true for the more severe asthmatics who develop long-term changes.

My asthma is still extremely reversible e.g. I've just put two sets of results into the fantastic website that Emily suggested. The first set are not great - during a hospital admission, and everything comes out at around 50%, with a recommended diagnosis of COPD. However, the next set is from a clinic appointment when I was feeling great - most figures are well up near 100% and some are even over, e.g. FVC -122%.

I suppose what I am trying to say is don't worry about a single result. Taken within a series they can be extremely useful at spotting trends and working out if medication is working, and they are also useful in assessing exactly how much obstruction is reversible and how much is not.

Your astma has been badly controlled recently, Fluffyfish, with several dashes to A&E and bad symptoms in between. It might well be that your results will be better when your asthma control is better.

Good luck!

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Bex

I was refering to my inhaled steroid dose.

Wanda

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mine can alter drmactically from one visit to next and that depends then on how many goes i have to have on spiro. last time i managed a FEV1 of 1.23 and FEC of 1.40 which is heck of lot lower than last one they had on rcord cause last 2 low ones one was in gyne notes and one had no notes for so had to have several attepts cause of how much lower it is. I guess it really depends how you are at the time of testing.