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About 90% of breathing treatments ordered in the emergency room are for patients ultimately diagnosed with heart failure. This is according to a non-scientific poll of respiratory therapists This certainly bodes well for job security, but such injudicious use of Ventolin has also been implicated in respiratory therapy apathy syndrome . It also results in a needless hospital expense, as bronchodilators do not suck fluid out of lungs and do not benefit patients with pulmonary edema and heart failure. I always thought it would be nice if there was a test to determine who was actually experiencing bronchospasm and who was not. Apparently, researchers have been experimenting with using ultrasounds to find the true cause of respiratory distress, or to differentiate between COPD and cardiogenic pulmonary edema. Rather than just using a stethoscope, which has its limits as a diagnostic tool, researchers developed a ultrasound protocol that takes less than three minutes to perform. In fact, it ...

These overprescribed drugs have been linked to dementia. The link between asthma and GERD and heartburn has been known for quite some time now. There's also a known link between COPD and the stomach. Many of these patients find themselves taking a daily dose of proton pump inhibitors such as Prilosec, Nexium, and Prevacid. However, a new study suggests that these drugs may cause dementia, with the risk increasing with age. Those over the age of 75 who take these medicines have a 40% increased risk for developing dementia compared to those who do not take them. That's a pretty significant risk, enough so that some doctors are now sharing this information with their patients, giving them the choice whether or not to continue using them.  Interestingly, another type of antacid, H2 blockers, have also been linked with dementia. These include medicines like Tagamet, Pepcid and Zantac.  Researchers are not sure why these popular stomach acid reducers might lead to dementia. One the...

Breathing is important. As respiratory therapists, we know this more than anyone. But a new study conducted by the Bronchodilator Reform Committee of the U.S. Government purports to show that eating is even more important that breathing. The study involved 100 patients at Shoreline Community Hospital, all of whom were prescribed QID breathing treatments with 3cc of normal saline and 0.5cc of albuterol. All of the patients had chronic bronchitis or asthma. They were all typically short of breath when their breathing treatments were due. Treatment times were scheduled for 8 a.m., 12 p.m., 4 p.m., and 8 p.m. The patients were asked to order a tray of food about 30 minutes prior to the time their breathing treatments were due. This gave the cafeteria plenty of time to prepare the meals and deliver them. The patients were told they would be involved in a study, but they were not told anything specific. The therapists were asked to enter the patient's room the sa...

Where I work is relatively considered a small-town hospital. So what is a small town hospital? How is a small-town hospital any different than any other hospital? Are all so called small-town hospitals the same; do things operate the same? Where I work there are 64 registered hospital beds. Actually, they just closed down the psyche unit, so that eliminates about ten. So, we are down to 54. And some of the remaining rooms are offices. So, is a small town hospital defined as a hospital with less than 100 beds? Can we define it that way.  I live just outside the city. The City has a population of just outside 10,000. The total number of people in the entire county is about 60,000. The region is set up in such a way that there is a county east, north, and south of us.  Shoreline (fake name I have always used) is a port city: Lake Michigan is to the west of us. Unlike the city 20 minutes to the North of us, our hospital is centrally located in such as way that we draw in quite a f...

The following was written by me and published at healthcentral.com/copd on January 4, 2016 COPD Resolutions You Should Keep A New Year's Resolution can be a powerful aide to helping you live well with COPD. Here are some we think would be perfect for you to choose from.   1.   Learn about your disease .  Both COPD and Asthma are complex diseases that researchers are learning more and more about every day. It's a good idea purchase a book so you can become a pseudo expert on your disease. Or, at the very least, continue to hang out at sites like this, as we do our best to keep you updated with the latest wisdom. This is also important because there are a lot of new  respiratory medicines  in the pipeline, and you'll want to be aware of them when they come out. Who knows, the next discovery might lead to a cure for our disease.   2.   Walk more frequently .  I recently wrote a post about titled, " 9 Ways Exercise Improves Asthma Control ."...

Michael Fulmer, 2016 MLB Rookie of the Year "So in all likelihood, this will be the last go-round for the team as it's constructed." This is what we have been hearing about the Detroit Tigers for the past couple years. The above was written in a cbsssports.com post by Jason Beck calle, " Tigers try to might be in store for another shakeup ." Can sportswriters get more creative than this? It doesn't matter if you read articles at cbssports.com, espn.com, or any other site: they all say the same thing. If I were a sportswriter and couldn't say anything unique, then I'd be inclined to quit writing.  Here at the RT Cave, it has been a mission that we don't rehash what is written on other writers. In fact, this is so important here that we have made it our written mission. In fact, our mission statement reads: "Respiratory Therapy Cave was established to portray an accurate, non-politically correct view of the profession of respiratory therapy. T...