THE SPlRO-FLOW Peak Flow monitor combines Spirometrics' proven expertise in pulmonary function testing with the needs of your patients, to create the ultimate peak flow monitor. In asthma, peak flow measures the degree of airflow obstruction due to bronchospasm and mucus. Measures of peak flow can also identify early stages of COPD, even before patients are aware of an abnormality. Knowledge of early losses of lung function can also be an important motivator in smoking cessation.
Peak flow measures the muscular effort to exhale forcibly from fully inflated lungs.
Peak flow also measures the elastic recoil of your lungs and airways function. Thus, peak flow is a simple expression of a complex process of lung emptying. The significance of peak flow measurements can be further explained by your doctor. Knowledge of normal or near normal peak flow, or at least being able to achieve your best possible result as a response to therapy, can give you security in the knowledge that you are as good as you can be. Perhaps you have been able to achieve normality through treatment, smoking cessation, or both.