Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Theme 2.1 Occupational health > Occupational health of respiratory disease > Flashcards

Occupational health of respiratory disease Flashcards

1
Q

What are occupational respiratory disorders?

A

These are disorders affecting the respiratory
tract as a result of workplace exposures.

> These may be caused by an occupational
exposure, or

> These may be aggravated by an occupational
exposure

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What are the occupational respiratory disorders casued by?

A

> These may be caused by an occupational
exposure, or

> These may be aggravated by an occupational
exposure

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What are the categories of the occupational respiratory disorders?

A
  1. Disorders of the airways
  2. Disorders of the parenchyma
  3. Airway and parenchymal damage
  4. Malignant diseases
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What are the disorders of the airways?

A

 Asthma
 Chronic bronchitis
 Byssinosis

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What are the disorders of the parenchyma?

A

 Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
 Granulomatous Lung Diseases
 Pneumoconiosis

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What are the airway and parenchymal damage disorders?

A

 Acute inhalational injury
 Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis
 Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis
 Infectious disease

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What are the malignant occupational respiratory diseases?

A

 Lung cancers

 Pleural cancers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What is the clinical approach to Occupational respiratory disorders?

A
  1. Interview
  2. Clinical examination
  3. Investigations and laboratory tests
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What happens in an interview in clinical approach of occupational respiratory disorders?

A

you find out the:-

 Nature of the presenting complaints
 Medical History
 Social and family History
 Occupational history

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What happens in an investigation and lab tests in clinical approach of occupational respiratory disorders?

A

 Lung function tests
 Radiography
 Skin prick tests
 biopsy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What are some common occupational respiratory disorders?

A

 Occupational Asthma

 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

 Pneumoconiosis

 Hypersensitivity pneumonitis

 Acute Inhalational Injuries

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is occupational asthma?

A

It is work related Asthma

 A disease characterized by reversible reduction in airflow or increased airway
irritability due to:-

> causes attributed to a particular working environment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What happens in the obstructed airway?

A

There is inflammation and thick mucus.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What are the types of asthma in the workplace?

A
  1. Asthma caused by work
    > Occupational asthma
    > 2-15% of all asthma cases
  2. Asthma made worse by work
    >At least 5 in every 100 people have asthma in the
    community

> Not all of these are caused by work (even though
it may have started while working at a particular
factory)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Types of asthma caused by work.

A
  1. Delayed onset

> Generally low exposure over months/years
Caused by respiratory sensitizers
“asthma with latency”

  1. Immediate onset
    >Generally very high exposure, often requiring
    emergency hospitalization

> Caused by respiratory irritants
“Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What are the casues of occupational asthma?

A
  1. Substances of animal origin
  2. Substances of non-animal origin (vegetable)
  3. Chemical substances
17
Q

Substances of animal origin that cause occupational asthma

A

 Birds
 Insects
 Laboratory animals
 Sea animals

18
Q

Substances of non-animal origin that cause occupational asthma

A

 Certain woods (cedar, oak, mahogany) (LMW)

 Flour and grain dust (HMW)

 Latex (HMW)

 Fungi and moulds (LMW)

 Coffee beans (HMW)

19
Q

Chemical substances that cause occupational asthma

A

 Isocyanates in spray paints
 Some metals
 Some drugs
 Textile dyes

20
Q

What are the risk factors of occupational asthma?

A

 Levels of exposure to allergen

 Atopy status

 Cigarette smoking:-
> Generally associated with IgE dependent
asthma

 Non specific airway irritability

 Exposure to low levels of respiratory irritants

21
Q

How does the occupational asthma present?

A

 Few months to few years after being exposed
 Often starts with just a cough (day/night) or
sneezing
 Commonly diagnosed as “acute bronchitis” –
incorrectly
 Initially gets better when away from work
 Later presents as typical asthma: tight chest,
wheezing, shortness of breath especially
when active
 If exposure continues, symptoms present
even when away from work

22
Q

What are the other issues to deal with when dealing with occupational asthma?

A

 Need to make sure of diagnosis
 Need to decide whether to remove from exposure
 Value of legal exposure limits
 Value of protective equipment
 Need to decide on whether to apply for
compensation

23
Q

COPD and Work exposures

A

Work-related chronic bronchitis/COPD has been the subject of considerable debate in the scientific literature

 Balance of opinion that work-relatedness does exist

24
Q

What are the Pneumoconioses?

A

 Silicosis

 Asbestosis

 Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis

 Other dust related pneumoconiosis

25
Q

What are the characterisctics of pneumoconioses?

A
  1. INSIDIOUS ONSET (meaning of insidious=proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with very harmful effects)
  2. Symptoms of breathlessness
  3. Chronic cough
  4. Minimal clinical features
  5. Radiographic changes – interstitial disease
  6. Restrictive lung function changes
26
Q

What is Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis?

A

> A granulomatous,
interstitial and alveolar
filling lung disease

> Results from repeated
inhalation and sensitization from a variety of organic dusts and low molecular weight chemical antigen

27
Q

What are some causes of Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis?

A
  1. Bacterial
     Thermophilic and non-thermophilic bacteria
  2. Fungal
     Aspergillus
     Cryptosporium
     Penicillium
  3. Animal proteins
     Avian proteins
     Wheat weevils
  4. Chemicals
     Toluene diisocyanates
     anhydrides
28
Q

How does Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis present?

A
  1. Latency – 3 weeks to years
  2. Temporal relationship is vital clue
  3. Exposure history
  4. Acute illness 4 – 12 hours following exposure:

> Cough, dyspnoea, chest tightness, fever and chills, myalgia

  1. Chronic illness include weight loss, sputum
    production, fatigue
  2. Clinically: bilateral crackles, clubbing, cyanosis
29
Q

What is acute inhalation injury?

A

 Generally occurs as a result of an
accident

 Follows a large unpredictable
exposure to a respiratory irritant

 Most famous example: Bhopal, India

30
Q

Classification of chemical injury

A
  1. Acute – within 48 hours of exposure

2. Persistent sequelae – weeks to months

31
Q

Chemical injury: Acute – within 48 hours of exposure

A

 Laryngeal edema
 Airflow obstruction
 Pneumonia
 ARDS

32
Q

Chemical injury: Persistent sequelae – weeks to months

A

 Asthma
 RADS
 Bronchitis
 Bronchiolitis obliterans

33
Q

Clinical importance of Chemical injury?

A

 Acute injury – easily recognized and supportive therapy instituted

 Delayed onset – may not be recognized and can be fatal or have severe chronic consequences

 Some have both acute and delayed onset that may be separated by several weeks

 Bronchiolitis obliterans is a common chronic consequence of these disorders

34
Q

What does the Lung function testing include?

A

 Peak Flow measurements
 Basic Spirometry
 Cross shift spirometry
 Spirometry with bronchodilator response
 Non-specific bronchial hyperresponsiveness
 Bronchial challenge spirometry

35
Q

What is Spirometry?

A

Spirometry is an essential clinical tool
 Potential for the wide variation in equipment, testing and interpretation
 Guidelines provide standardization of testing
 Requires procedures and QC check

36
Q

What does spirometry of good quality require?

A

 Competent operator
 Reliable and accurate equipment
 Co-operative patient
** Important to focus on technical aspects of test

37
Q

What is Spirometry used for?

A

 Used for clinical diagnostic purposes
 Used for determining work relationship
 Used for determining fitness to work
and impairment

38
Q

Peak Flow Measurements

A

 Used to monitor response to medication
 Used for diagnostic purposes for occupational asthma:
> For the above, need serial peak flow monitoring, 5x per day, for 2 weeks during exposure, and 2 weeks after exposure

 Not useful for determining fitness to work or impairment

39
Q

OCCUPATIONAL RESPIRATORY DISORDERS

TAKE HOME MESSAGES:-

A

 Many respiratory conditions may have a work relationship – if not looked for, will not be found

 The presentation may be years after exposure has ceased

 Prognosis may be dependent on early removal from exposure

 Removal from exposure may have financial consequences – therefore careful diagnosis is critical

 If work-related – institute process of compensation

Theme 2.1 Occupational health (1 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions