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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) (cont.)

Your health care provider will perform various tests to determine if you have COPD as well as to decide on the best treatment for you.

You will be asked about your symptoms and whether you have smoked, currently smoke, or are exposed to second-hand smoke or air pollutants.
You will undergo a physical examination. Although a physical evaluation is often not sensitive enough to detect mild-to-moderate COPD, the physical signs are specific and sensitive enough to detect severe COPD. Patients with severe COPD experience rapid breathing (called tachypnea) and respiratory distress (difficulty breathing) with simple activities.
A sample of your sputum may be collected and sent to a laboratory for analysis.
A chest x-ray or a high-resolution computerized tomography scan (an HRCT scan) may be taken. An HRCT scan is often taken because it provides more detail than a chest x-ray. It is very useful in detecting emphysema.
A pulmonary function test should be used because it detects and assesses the severity of lung disease. This test is also helpful in following the progress of lung disease. Using a device called a spirometer, a pulmonary function test can determine how well your lungs are functioning by measuring how much air you can breathe in and how much and how fast you can breathe out.
An arterial blood gas test may be performed. This test measures how well your lungs are doing in transferring oxygen into your blood and in removing carbon dioxide from it.
A pulse oximeter, which is attached to your finger, is sometimes used to measure the percentage of oxygen saturation in your blood.