Mucus

Today is the best day! I went inside a giant’s respiratory system and it was awesome. I entered the respiratory system from the nasal cavity. The nasal cavity is part of the respiratory system. The nose is the primary opening for the respiratory system. Have you ever wondered how it works? The term "nasal cavity" can refer to each of the two sides of the nose or to the two sides combined. The two nasal cavities condition the air to be received by the other areas of the respiratory tract. Owing…

The psychological impacts of living with cystic fibrosis Introduction A prevalent and life-threatening disease, cystic fibrosis (CF) can cause infections, lung damage, and respiratory failure via increasing the production of thickened secretions in the body’s organs (Abbott, Hart, Morton, Gee, & Conway, 2008). However, with the development of new treatments, the lifespan of individuals with CF have significantly improved. Unfortunately, these advancements have resulted in arduous treatments…

I would approach the parents. Not just parents whose children are suffering from asthma but also to grown adults that suffer from asthma. I would influence them the importance of decreasing air populations and how clean air can not only help asthmatics, but future children who be apart of the world. I would paint a picture where asthma can be overcome and try to make it reality for them. Moreover, listen to the people I’m interacting with and let the know they are being heard. How their…

Research in Canada examining eight cohorts of children from 1993 – 2000 and found that there was a marked increase in the number of asthma cases, specifically noted by rates in children less than three years old, and a decrease in the age of those who were diagnosed (Radhakrishnan et al., 2014). One tool that is used to predict childhood asthma is the Asthma Predictive Index (API), which assists in identifying children at high risk of asthma activity later in their lives (Baena-Cagnani &…

Cyanosis is a bluish discoloration of the skin, nail beds and mucous membranes. Cyanosis shows up when the levels of deoxygenated blood rise in small blood vessels of fingers and toes. It affects the integumentary system by reducing the amount of oxygen in hemoglobin and raising the amount of deoxygenated blood in the blood supply. This may be seen in cases of heart failure, shock, exposure to cold temperatures and diseases of blood circulation. There are two types of Cyanosis: Central…

So you’ve just eaten the greatest peanut butter candy in the world, all of a sudden you get hives and breathing becomes a big issue, your throat is swelling blocking off air. This is what is known as allergic reaction, in this case to peanuts. This is the body’s immune system overreacting to the properties of the peanut. However what causes this phenomenon is a chemical that is called histamine, or if you want to get technical, 2-(1H-imidazol-4-yl)ethanamine. Histamine is active chemical…

Introduction and Clinical Question: Viral croup remains a common cause of upper respiratory obstruction in the pediatric population and its barking cough can often be heard in the pediatric clinic and local emergency departments. Multiple studies have shown the use of glucocorticoids results in a faster recovery with fewer return visits and hospital admissions, as well as a decrease in the use of epinephrine (2). However, in cases were the patient or caregiver refuses an injection or where…

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways which makes the respiratory tract hyper-responsive. Exact mechanisms of asthma are complicated to pinpoint due to its heterogeneity of eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic asthma. However, abnormal accumulation of mast cells, eosinophils, dendritic cells, and basophils are thought to be the major cause of asthma, resultant in IgE mediated sensitization with Th-2 CD4+ lymphocytes secreting cytokines IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, IL-17, and IFN-γ…

The person whom I chose to interview was my uncle Daniel. He has being living in United States for more than10 years and has been diagnosed with asthma since he was a little child. He was not sure exactly the age at which the disease began, but his mother said that was probably when he was 2 years old. Being an asthmatic child has impacted his family in many ways. The first impact was to realize that asthma is a chronic disease that is treatable, but it has no cure. In fact, asthma symptoms…

I am writing today about a noncommunicable disease that affects 26 million Americans. The mortality rate of this disease is approximately 4,000 per year and causes almost 14 million visits to the Doctors office and 1.75 million emergency room visits. This disease is called asthma, also known to many as reactive airway disease. The reason I chose this particular illness is because of the impact it has had on my brother’s life since he was diagnosed at the age of 3. Asthma is a chronic…