I am a 48 year old male, 149 lbs, 19.5 BMI, and very active. I have never smoked cigarettes, although I did smoke marijuana for several years. I do not smoke marijuana or cigarettes presently. Here is a short rundown of my situation
I had a ctScan of my thoracic region, back in March of this year to see if my kidneys were not scarred (unrelated). There was discovered that I have (had) a 9 mm nodule on my lower left lung. An other Ctscan was done, and about a week later, I get a "diagnosis" slip from the VA that I have COPD. However, every doc I have been to, including a pulmonologist, does not seem to see anything that indicates COPD. I have 99 saturation, almost always (will drop slightly, to about 95-96, when exercising vigorously), and my pft came back normal, except maybe a somewhat lowered DLCO(?), at 83 percent. Moreover, and a point that must have seemed unnoteworthy to the pulmonologist, were a couple of my airway resistance values, at 170%, My spirometry and lung capacity tests were at and above 100 percent, for the most part.
What might such airway resistance scores and my DLCO values indicate, if my pft was at or above normal for age, gender and other parameters? Can diffusion values be improved with vigorous exercise. What of my pft, over time, if I start out in the upper values? Thanks.