Amy Parsons Asthma Case Studies

Amy Parsons is a 16-year-old “A” student with no known medication, environmental, or food allergies and a history of several URI and common colds who presented to clinic with chief complaint of “I go through periods when I cough a lot, I never cough up anything; its just a dry, hacking cough. I have coughing episodes after I swim in the pool, and it seems like I just can't take a deep breath.” Aside from her periodic nonproductive cough and childhood respiratory complications, Amy denies any chronic illnesses, surgeries, major accidents, prior hospitalization, smoking cigarettes, drinking, illicit drug use and reports 3 episodes of otitis media before age 18 months. On exam she was found to be alert and oriented, stable with vital signs within normal limits. Amy denies rashes, lesions, sore throat, ear pain, headaches and problems with vision, shortness of breath and reports occasional diarrhea with high stress and gassy when she drinks milk. Physical examination revealed no abnormalities. Peak expiratory flow (PEF) showed 290/310/320 with her predicted at 453. …show more content…
Asthma is a chronic disorder of the airway characterized by ongoing inflammation of the airway, in which the flow of exhaled air from the lungs may be restricted due to inflammation. Airway inflammation stems from a variety of stimuli such as the presence of inflammatory cells, damage to the bronchial epithelium, cytokines, genetic predisposition from the development of an IgE and/or viral respiratory infections which increases hyperresponsivness and decreases airflow (Grossman, 2015, pg. 969). These inflammatory responses result in recurrent episodes of coughing, wheezing, breathlessness, and chest tightness that sometimes worsen at