August is over.

Not too long ago, we all went through studying the respiratory system in uni.

Learning all about the lungs, the lungs, the lungs, and the lungs was no easy feat.

Maybe for some of us la...definitely not for me. :b

One of our learning outcomes was to identify and recognise a peak flow meter and how it's used in a hospital.

For our non-medical readers (if we even have any :P ) a peak flow meter is by definition a "small, hand-held device used to manage asthma by monitoring airflow through the bronchi and thus the degree of obstruction in the airways".

As you can see, from my descriptively precise definition, I just looked it up on Wikipedia I've been studying my arse off. =)

Here's a picture of how it looks like :

The picture's from Wikipedia too 8-)

Basically, what you do is, you pull the meter notch all the way down to zero000, put your mouth at the nozzle, take a deep breath and exhale sharply into the peak flow meter.
The air pushes the notch up and where it stops is an indication of how much depth your lungs have.

Obviously, the higher the number, the better. Less obstruction in your airways; no constricted airways etc.

A few students (myself included) were quite surprised as to why so much more emphasis was put on the technique of using the device by the lecturers, rather than the way of analyzing the readings. Took me quite a while too to understand why breathing into a tube had to be done so properly...until I saw this. Then it banged hit me.

(: Let your imagination roam :)

I love my uni.