sade082

The following was originally published at healthcentral.com/asthma on February 2, 2015 What is a Severe Asthma Attack?  A severe asthma attack (not to be confused with severe asthma ) is an asthma attack that is really bad. The medical term for this is status asthmaticus, or an asthma attack that is unresponsive to attempts to correct it. Such an attack is caused when the muscles surrounding your air passages spasm and squeeze your airways so air can get in but not out. Increased sputum production may cause mucus plugs that also block air passages. A severe attack may include any of the following: Uncomfortable coughing Chest tightness Wheezing (or no wheezing) Chest pain Unable to speak in full sentences Leaning on things to breathe Need to sit or stand to breathe The need to keep shoulders raised to breathe Sucking in stomach when inhaling Bluish tinge around lips and fingertips Feeling panicked Confusion Unable to concentrate Inability to decide what action to take Anxiety, m...

The following was originally published on March 25, 2015, on healthcentral.com/copd. The Link Between COPD and Sleep Disorders About 50 percent of people with COPD also suffer from sleep disorders, or conditions that prevent a restful sleep. Here are three of the most common sleep disorders associated with COPD, signs and symptoms to watch out for, and possible treatments. 1. Hypoventilation This is a medical term describing a decreased rate and depth of breathing. Reduced breathing activity is normal during sleep, but generally causes no problems. Even if oxygen levels drop slightly, they remain at safe levels. However, people with lung disease may already have chronically decreased oxygen levels, so relaxed breathing activity may result in oxygen levels becoming dangerously low. Complicating this is the COPD disease process itself. Some have chronically elevated carbon dioxide levels. Some use accessory muslces to breathe, and these muscles are paralyzed while sleeping . B...

Real Doctor's Creed : Appendix Z: Problem Solving Section 982: Pediatric Croup. By Dr. Richard Crank, Shady Health Medical Center, January 7, 1982 The boy had croup .  Even without auscultation I could hear the inspiratory stridor. Upon auscultation, I could hear it radiating throughout the lung fields. The emergency room physician reported giving the patient a shot of decadron.  Upon admission, I ordered Q2 hour racemic epinephrine if needed. The child did very well during the night, with the exception of one episode where the child became croupy in his sleep.  His sats were always 98% or better on room air.  During the day today the child has gotten progressively worse, per the respiratory therapist, with the need for Q2 hour racemic epinephrine over the past six hours. The therapist said the patient's SpO2 remains 98% on room air. The therapist also suggested that perhaps the decadron was wearing off, and another one should be given. He suggested maintenanc...

Today's version is Ventolin Taking note of the fact that the long-held conventional wisdom that aerosols like albuterol help with secretion clearance and mobilization have been overturned, we can now offer up the eight stages of how a medical hoax, faux theory, or scam is overturned and proven false. 1.  The theory is proposed by scientists on a nonscientific mission. (Example: the study of 4 COPD patients to which the hypoxic drive theory was devised.) 2.  It is believed because it plausibly explains an observation.  It taps into large anxieties about not being able to help those with chronic diseases we actually don't know much about, and make us feel like we are actually doing something good. For example, albuterol mobilizes secretions and enhances clearance, or under oxygenating COPD patients will prevent their hypoxic drive from being blunted.  The solution taps into the hearts of physicians and nurses: it sounds like a good idea; it makes them feel like they...

Most non-medical people develop a false belief that modern medicine can prolong the quantity of days a person will live, and that "doing everything" to prolong life will result in a high likelihood of a good quality of life thereafter. For this reason, I think that every person should spend a minimum of six weeks shadowing a respiratory therapist, nurse, or doctor. Doing so would cause people to learn three things: Everybody dies Death does not always come easy Bad things happen to good people You cannot take the risk out of life Everybody dies .  As recently as the turn of the 20th century most people dealt with death on a regular basis, as the life expectancy was not that great.  Today, however, thanks to better medicine, people are living longer. This has made it so people don't see death often, and so they develop this false perception that people don't die, or that they will live forever.   Death does not always come easy .  So they develop this false perception...