Studies on resistance to breathing

Abstract

Some aspects of resistance to breathing are reviewed in this article. The importance in medicine of the determination of resistance to breathing is emphasized. Estimation of respiratory resistance in clinical practice by spirometry is mentioned. Clinically useful methods for determination of resistance to breathing reported in the literature are reviewed. The body plethysmograph, an instrument specially designed to measure airway resistance and currently used in clinical medicine, is complicated and expensive. A newly designed instrument for measuring total respiratory resistance by partial airway occlusion is strongly recommended. A comparison of the two methods, body plethysmography and partial airway occlusion, has been made. The theory of the partial airway occlusion method is also briefly described. Factors affecting respiratory resistance are analyzed. The relationship between the size of dead space and the magnitude of respiratory resistance is also discussed.