Final answer:
Spirometry measures lung capacity and helps in diagnosing respiratory diseases. Key measurements include FEV and FVC, and their ratio, which help distinguish types of respiratory disorders. It's an important tool for monitoring disease progression and treatment efficacy.
Step-by-step explanation:
Spirometry is used to evaluate lung capacity. This test measures how much and how quickly you can move air out of your lungs. It helps diagnose conditions that affect breathing such as asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, and COPD. The spirometer records the amount and the rate of air that you breathe in and out over a specified period.
An important measurement in spirometry is the forced expiratory volume (FEV), which measures how much air someone can exhale during a forced breath. Another critical measurement is the forced vital capacity (FVC), the total amount of air exhaled during a forced breath. The FEV1/FVC ratio is particularly useful in diagnosing respiratory diseases. A low FEV1/FVC ratio indicates airway obstruction, typical in conditions like asthma, while a high ratio may suggest lung restriction as seen in fibrosis.
Lung volumes are a measurement of air for one lung function, while the lung capacity refers to combining two or more lung volumes (the total air that can be inhaled from the end of an expiration to maximal capacity).
Spirometry test results are pivotal in determining the effectiveness of disease treatment by monitoring changes in lung volumes and capacities over time.