Respiratory Disorders Flashcards
What is asthma?
Airway hyper-responsiveness
What are some of the symptoms of asthma?
Cough
Chest tightness
Wheeze
Dyspnea
Is the airflow obstruction reversible?
Often reversible.
What are some of the clinical features of asthma? Describe the symptoms and the signs.
Symptoms:episodic, diurnal variant;
Signs: hyperinflatn,wheeze, atopic features
What are some of the difficult aspects of diagnosing asthma?
Children younger than 5 years old, not always possible to do spirometry, not all wheezing is asthma.
What are some of the main types of drugs used in asthma?
B2 agnostic= Short-acting (relievers) and Long-acting (controllers).
What is some of the anti-inflammatory drugs used in asthma?
Glococortiosteriods (preventers)=Inhaled and Oral
What are the symptoms of exercise-induced asthma?
Cough, wheeze, chest-tightness, shortness of breath associated with exercise. Typically onset after exercise or during period of “rest”.
What causes exercise-induced asthma?
Precise mechanism unknow, postulated mechanisms include airway cooling and airway heat loss. It is not associated with increased airway inflammation.
Describe the airway heat loss mechanisms during EIA.
Airway heat loss=neurogenic bronchoconstriction. Changes in blood vessel calibre.
What are the consequences of exercise-induced asthma?
Exercise becomes unpleasant.
Parents/teachers/care-givers discourage exercise.
Patient becomes deconditioned.
Vicious cycle->Loss of self-esteem_invalid role develops_exercise intolerance becomes entrenched.
What are some of the ways to cope with EIA?
Improving overall asthma control. Nonspecific measures (sport choice, environment, improve overall cardiorespiratory fitness). Specific measures (Use refractory period, prophylactic drug use).
What does COPD stand for?
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Define COPD.
A disease state characterized by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. The airflow limitation is usually both progressive and associated with an abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs to noxious particles or gases.
Describe some of the aspects of COPD.
Common, preventable, treatable, persistent air flow limitation, usually progressive, includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
Define/describe chronic bronchitis.
Chronic cough for 3 months in each of two successive years in a patient in whom other causes of chronic cough have been excluded.
Define/describe emphysema.
Abnormal and permanent enlargement of the airspaces distal to the terminal bronchioles that is accompanies by destruction of the airspace walls, without obvious fibrosis.
What are some of the causes of COPD?
Smoking, pollution, infection, childhood malnutrition, use of biomass fuels.
What are the consequences of COPD?
Causes absenteeism, disability and death.
What are the host risk factors for COPD?
Genes, hyperresponsiveness, lung growth.
What are the exposure risk factors for COPD?
Tobacco smoke, occupational dusts and chemicals, infections-childhood+PTB, socioeconomic status.
What is the pathogenesis of COPD?
Noxious agent (tobacco smoke, pollutants, occupational agent) + Genetic factors/respiratory infection/other=COPD.
What is the genetic component that plays a role in the development of COPD?
Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency. It is a protein that protects the lungs from damage caused by protease enzymes, that can be released as a result of an inflammatory response to tobacco smoke.