Hello, Hope all of you are doing well! I got my PFT done recently and pasting the results here. Would appreciate help in interpreting them. I was diagnosed with asthma 4 years ago when I was 34. CT showed hyper-inflated lungs but no mention of emphysema. I’m still on symbicort for past 4 years and was on 2 puffs a day for last 1-1.5 year but back to 4 puffs as I had breathing issues in Canadian cold last month and was prescribed prednisone for the first time. My questions -
1. Based on numbers does it look like asthma or COPD?
2. DLCO was initially high like 115% but now it is 90%, I asked the pulmonologist but he ignored it and said that’s because I didn’t hold the breath for whole time or exhale properly . Didn’t quite understood what he meant. Is this an issue ?
3. Breathing issues which I had in Feb, due to which I was prescribed oral steroid, was that an exacerbation? Could I do anything to avoid an exacerbation. I don’t smoke and generally athletic, I do workout and take flu shots etc