Why is peak expiratory flow monitoring significant?
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| The importance of monitoring peak expiratory flow? |
Modern asthma control plans can only be followed by a peak expiratory flow monitor. The device provides the patient with better, more proactive, and more objective information to troubleshoot breathing problems before coughing and wheezing begin.
How often should I measure peak expiratory flow?
Doctors usually recommend taking one measurement in the morning and one in the evening each day. Measurements should also be taken when feeling weak or feeling short of breath. Measurements should be taken before any prescribed inhaled medication is taken.
What is important in measuring peak expiratory flow?
Your doctor is only interested in the peak expiratory flow achieved during the measurement session. Therefore, please repeat the measurements until you feel that you got the best possible result for that session.
If results decrease on each successive measurement, please speak with your physician. This may be a sign of an unstable asthma condition.
Coughing during the measurement can lead to falsely low results, so always repeat the measurement. If you wish to take continuous measurements in sequence, make sure you get enough relaxation after each measurement to ensure accurate results.
And please note that a low peak expiratory flow indicates an impending asthma attack even though you are not experiencing any symptoms!
How should I take the measurement?
- Measurements of peak expiratory flow can be done while standing or sitting upright.
- To improve the comparability of your data, you should always measure the same position.
- Hold the device with both hands.
- Inhale deeply and hold your breath for a moment.
- Make sure to cover the mouthpiece tightly with your lips.
- Exhale into the measuring tube as hard and fast as you can!
- Remove the device from your mouth and see the result on the screen.
- It is recommended that three or more measurements be taken sequentially.
Can I assess my condition myself?
The traffic lights scheme; enables the patient to evaluate the measured values by himself to follow the progress of his disease. Self-assessment enables patients to control their asthma condition, in close cooperation with their physician.
- Green Zone: Lung disease is largely under control.
- Yellow zone: The dose of the drug should be increased according to the doctor's recommendations.
- Red Zone: Danger! The patient should act as recommended by the doctor or seek emergency medical treatment.
What parameters does the PF 100 measure and what do they mean?
Microlife PF100 is used to measure peak expiratory flow and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) in both children and adults.
peak expiratory flow is the fastest air velocity that can be expelled from the lungs after inhalation.
Forced expiratory volume in one second measures the volume after exhalation in one second.
Measured peak expiratory flow and forced expiratory volume in one second, it is possible to know how well the lungs are breathing by monitoring the flow of air.
Doctors can ask patients to monitor changes in air flow and record the results. Automatic memory stores the last 240 reading values as well as the time and date and provides easy access to them.
How does the indicator light work?
The traffic lights scheme; enables the patient to evaluate the measured values by himself to follow the progress of his disease. Self-assessment enables patients to control their asthma condition, in close cooperation with their physician.
The clinician identifies a green, yellow, and red region of the patient's peak expiratory flow readings and identifies the patient's best subjective value; This is the highest value a patient can achieve under optimal conditions (symptom-free, while feeling comfortable), [Example: 500 L/min.]
- The green area typically reaches 80 percent of the personal best value. [Example: 500 L/min x 0.8 = 400 L/min.]
- The yellow zone typically reaches 60 percent of the personal best value. [Example: 500L/min x 0.6=300L/min].
- As long as the values are in the green area, lung disease is largely under control. If the readings are frequent in the yellow area, the dose of the drug should be increased according to the doctor's recommendations.
- If the peak expiratory flow results are in the red, the situation is dangerous! The patient should act as recommended by the doctor or seek emergency medical treatment.
Our peak expiratory flow meter PF100 has been designed to compare peak expiratory flow and one-second forced expiratory volume values with their best subjective values.
The first step is to examine the patient, for example, with a spirometer, to obtain complete monitoring of the condition of his lungs.
The best values can be entered through the Asthma Analyzer SW device from the Microlife to the personal PF 100, and then allow the use of traffic lights and show the extent of the patient's lung condition easily and clearly.
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