Asthma

In the process of an exacerbation of COPD, the airways become more inflamed causing vasoconstriction, mucous is more heavily produced, and small airways are not exchanging oxygen at baseline function for the patient. This takes the patient into a worsening condition of COPD that drops oxygen levels down, causing a build-up of carbon dioxide in her blood, the pH to drop from the acidity, and possibly bicarb to be not excreted by the kidneys in response. This causes a condition of respiratory…

In week 1 of clinical, I was assigned to an 82-year-old female who was admitted on February 15th for RFV Acute purpulent bronchitis Leukocytosis. She has multiple secondary diagnoses as well, such as, dementia, pneumonia, throat cancer, stricture of the epiglottis, and more. During my shift she had four types of medications, Cefepime, Heparin, Levothyroxine, and Pantoprazole. She is also a NPO patient and continuously asked for food and water. The nurse pointed out edema on her arm and elbows…

Cystic fibrosis, also known as mucoviscidosis is an extremely common genetic disease in the UK. The genetic defect was identified by a group of scientists in 1989.In the UK it has been found that 1 in 25 people carry the faulty CF allele. CF is caused by deletion of 3 nucleotides in chromosome 7. The amino acid phenylalanine is lost as a result of this mutation. It is autosomal recessive so both the CFTR alleles should be faulty to cause the disease. Many of the epithilial linings of the ducts…

Can you breathe? Inhale deeply; do you feel the oxygen filling your lungs with every breath? As you sit there, a small child sits in another room breathing in the same oxygen that expands and contracts from their tiny lungs, but not long ago those tiny lungs were at an even more miniscule scale of size and the small child was in the arms of a loving mother, wife to a dear husband. Their love is blatant, yet no amount of care and happiness can shield them from the air around them, for all need…

An Overview of Food Allergies What are Food Allergies? Food allergies are any type of food or food byproduct that produce a mild to severe allergic reaction in an individual. This reaction happens because your body thinks that a certain aspect of the food is trying to cause you harm and sends antibodies to fight causing an allergic reaction. Many mild food related allergies induce stomach discomfort and rashes. Mild reactions cause discomfort but are not life threatening. Severe food allergies…

Tracheostomy tubes are inserted into and incision in the windpipe to relieve an obstruction in the airway. Endotracheal tubes are used to intubate a patient during anesthesia or when there is maintenance of the airway (Types of intubation, n.d.). Tracheostomy tubes and endotracheal tubes are often used for the distribution for aerosol therapy. According to the Medical Dictionary, Aerosol deposition is the depositing or the retention of aerosol particles on a nearby surface within the respiratory…

Case Study #3 1. Based on my understanding of the cardiovascular system, a blood clot is a gel that consists of the formed elements of blood trapped in a network of insoluble protein fibers (Tortora,2014, p.335). How clotting is formed when a series of chemical reactions that culminates in the formation of fibrin threads (Tortora,2014, p.335). When blood is easily clots it’s called thrombosis, a thrombosis is a formation of a clot in an unbroken blood vessel, usually in a vein (Tortora,2014,…

I have caught up with Mario a months since his last appointment. During that time, I have obtained copies of previous lung function tests that actually reveal normal spirometry and gas transfer. Static lung volumes are essentially normal. Interestingly at the time of testing in October last year, oxygen saturation was reduced at 92-94%. I also note a stress echocardiogram from twelve months ago did not reveal any ischemic changes, whilst the HRCT report has made comment on some mild…

Chapter 1 Introduction Respiratory therapy (RT) is an allied health specialty that provides therapeutic and diagnostic services to patients with cardiopulmonary disorders. Around 119 thousand respiratory care jobs held in 2010, with expected increasing up to 143,000 by 2020 based on United States Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). According to the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (COARC), there are 451 academic programs, which accredits respiratory care…

What are the common symptoms associated with an exacerbation of COPD? Common symptoms associated with exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are: Fatigue, barrel chested, difficulty breathing, nails clubbing, copious amounts of sputum that may have a change in color from clear to yellow, green or brown, waking up disorientated or with a headache, hypertrophied neck muscles (American Thoracic Society, 2014). According to Jarvis, Mary could also have, “purse-lipped breathing” (2016)…