Emphysema

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)…

1. Describe the procedure/surgery and/or treatment and include associated complications I assisted in the care of two patients while in the critical care unit today. One of my patients was suffering from end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, while the other was experiencing an outbreak of shingles. The patient with end-stage COPD was a 57-year-old female patient, who has been hospitalized for shortness of breath related to her COPD numerous times in the past few months. Throughout my…

What is COPD? COPD(Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)is a combination of multiple diseases involving the respiratory system. Outside of the disease, the Respiratory System should be allowed to perform ventilation, the physical process of breathing, breath involuntarily, and perform the process of respiration. A normal human would be able to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide without a problem. JMB How Is COPD caused? One of the main causes of COPD is secondhand smoke,…

Chronic inflammation in the airways limits the amount of airflow to the lungs. It is progressive and relates to abnormal inflammatory response in the lungs that affects gas exchange. “This is caused by loss of elastic recoil and airflow obstruction caused by mucosal hypersecretion, mucosal edema, and bronchospasm”. One of the two Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is chronic bronchitis. It is caused when the bronchi and bronchioles become inflamed by exposure to smoke or environmental…

Degenerative disease experienced at a higher rate among Japanese Americans The degenerative disease I chose is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may experience trouble with breathing, and coughing. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a term that is used to described a progressive lung disease. One of the biggest causes of COPD is cigarette smoking, and secondhand smoking. Pollutants that are found in the environment like…

An air embolism is cause when an air bubble is caught and blocks a blood vessel. It causes a cut off of blood to certain part of the body. There are many different ways of getting an air embolism. One is during surgery or just in the hospital, IV site are at a high risk because it is a line into a blood vessel. If the air embolism is not resolved it can make its way to your heart and cause it to stop. If an air embolism is in an artery it is extremely severe, because it can cut off blood flow to…

Week # 5 Common symptoms of COPD exacerbation Smoking is the leading cause of COPD and served as a trigger for the disease. Smoking damage the airway and the lining of the lung, which lead to a decrease in lung expansion, which then leads to trouble moving air in and out of the lung causing difficulty with breathing, Irregular breathing, Coughing, discoloration of the skin or nail due to the lack of oxygenated blood. According to case study, Mary had signs of COPD…

1a. The research area investigated was effective actions patients take in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are important to lower the number of hospital admissions and make better outcomes for patients. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a disease which limits the flow of air in the lungs which further leads to shortness of breath which is partially irreversible (Australian Institute of Health and welfare, 2018). COPD is also associated with other conditions like asthma, respiratory…

Tests for COPD include; Spirometry, Bronchodilator Reversibility, Chest X-ray, Computed Tomography, and Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency Testing.  Spirometry helps tell how well your lungs are working. During this test, the patient will sit down and into a spirometer which evaluates how much is breathed in and out over the course of a minute and how much air is left in your lungs.  Bronchodilator Reversibility test is the same as the spirometry test except the patient is given a bronchodilator,…

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a disorder that maintains consistent obstruction of airways and lungs. It affects approximately 10% of the population worldwide and is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States (Farver-Vestergaard et al., 2014 and Kohler et al., 2002). According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, COPD is caused by long-term exposure to lung irritants such as cigarette smoke, chemical fumes, and air pollution. The American Lung Association…