New machine to test lung functions available at GHCH

The new lung testing machine at Grays Harbor Community Hospital may look like an isolation tube on the set of a 1950s game show, but it provides potentially life-saving information about the people who venture inside and use it. Called a diagnostic body plethysmograph, it’s located in the hospital’s cardiopulmonary department for lung testing, patients with asthma, chronic lung disease, lung or other cancers, and for health checks before surgery. “It’s used by people of all ages,” said Valerie Norwood, the hospital’s cardiopulmonary supervisor. “People with allergies, emphysema, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease — even teenagers with exercise-induced asthma.” Norwood said the tests performed with the machine provide many answers that help diagnose a person’s condition. However, the testing can take up to 90 minutes, and the person needs to provide all the effort they can muster for the results to be accurate. Some of the patients have difficulties and need to be able to cough or drink some warm or cold liquid during the testing so they can continue the process to the end. “One of our biggest jobs is to help them overcome their fear,” Norwood explained. “They can come in very nervous and scared. We help them understand what they are going to do.” Find more information in the original report in ‘thedailyworld.com‘.