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Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programs in COPD
Long-term oxygen therapy may no longer be the only effective tool against decreasing quality of life and disease progression in patients with COPD. Integrating techniques from breathing control to chest physical therapy and lower extremity training, pulmonary rehabilitation programs can break the disabling interplay between dyspnea and physical deconditioning.
Journal Article, October 1999
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Distant Referrals for Idiopathic Anaphylaxis
The diagnosis, and even the concept, of anaphylaxis without an inciting external allergen is not accepted by some physicians. Despite this disagreement, the ten patients with idiopathic anaphylaxis described in this case series traveled from distant cities to be evaluated by an authority on this elusive and potentially fatal entity.
Journal Article, September 1999
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Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia
The captain of the men of death of earlier generations continues to take a high toll on mortality in the late twentieth century because of expanding elderly and immunocompromised populations. Two pulmonary intensivists team up to spread the word on how to recognize and treat patients at increased risk of death.
Journal Article, September 1999
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Molecular Epidemiology of Occupational Asthma: A Community-Based Approach
What roles do genetic susceptibility and gene-environment interactions play in the etiology of occupational asthma? An integrated approach, combining both community-based epidemiologic study design and biomarkers for exposure, susceptibility, and disease outcome may help answer this question.
Journal Article, September 1999
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Mechanisms of Food Allergy
Today's generation of studies in the field of food allergy examine not only signs and symptoms, but also allergens and mediators. This research has spawned a new generation of diagnostic tests and resolved the spectrum of adverse food reactions into discrete phenomena with similar clinical presentations but significantly different etiologies at the level of molecular biology.
Journal Article, August 1999
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Stevens-Johnson Syndrome: Affects More than Just Skin
Like a bad case of poison ivy that can get past the skin to the uvea, liver, kidneys, and mucous membranes of the GI tract, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) can result in complications far worse than itching and discomfort--including death or permanent visual impairment.
Journal Article, August 1999
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Sinusitis: Diagnosis and Treatment
Patients with sinusitis perceive themselves to have worse health than do angina sufferers and the disease may be difficult to diagnose and treat. In this article a practitioner in the field offers the benefit of his experience.
Journal Article, August 1999
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Asthma Management Guidelines
The incidence of asthma is on the rise, and primary care physicians are increasingly responsible for routine management. This specialist in the field cuts through the morass of potential diagnostic and therapeutic options to isolate the most efficient initial means of effectively managing asthma.
Journal Article, August 1999
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Anaphylaxis
The incidence of this potentially lethal biochemical reaction seems to be increasing with the size of our pharmacopeia. From biochemistry to blood pressure support, this article will help you recognize and manage the acute episode.
Journal Article, July 1999
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Mechanical Ventilation in Acute Respiratory Failure
For doctors who equate mechanical ventilation with endotracheal intubation (EI), "non-invasive mechanical ventilation" may seem to be an
oxymoron. This article reviews convincing data-especially for acute
respiratory failure in COPD-that shows it may now be possible, thanks to
snug-fitting face masks that cover the mouth and nose, to provide
ventilator support without the risk of ulceration, barotrauma, and the
other complications of EI.
Journal Article, July 1999
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Sinusitis: A Practical Guide for Physicians
Some may equate sinusitis with "the sniffles," but in approximately 300,000 patients each year this seemingly innocuous condition leads to surgery. That is far too many in the opinion of the author, an allergist specializing in chronic sinusitis. Discover in this article the spectrum of presentations and non-surgical therapies available to the general practitioner.
Journal Article, July 1999
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Lung Abscess: Diagnosis and Treatment
The incidence of this classic entity in respiratory care has declined in the post-antibiotic era, and associated mortality has fallen to about 5% to 10%. Recently, concern over penicillin resistance has led to a batch of studies that show, among other things, that clindamycin may be a more effective first-line therapy than penicillin.
Journal Article, July 1999
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The Emerging Role of DNA Vaccines
Human trials testing DNA vaccines against influenza virus, malaria, hepatitis B virus, HIV, herpes simplex virus, colon cancer, and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma are underway and have only just begun to provide suggestions of efficacy.
Journal Article, July 1999
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Irritant-Induced Asthma: Diagnosis And Management
Occupational asthma occurring immediately after a single inhalational exposure to high levels of a toxic substance is termed irritant-induced asthma. Those patients diagnosed with occupational asthma generally continue to report bronchial irritability symptoms and demonstrate nonspecific bronchial hyperresponsiveness for years after the inciting event.
Journal Article, July 1999
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Pneumonia in the Pregnant Patient: A Synopsis
Pneumonia is an infrequent yet serious complication of pregnancy. What factors especially predispose the pregnant host? What unique issues in management should the treating physician address?
Journal Article, May 1999
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Antibiotic Therapy in Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Switch and Step Down Therapy
Although current data are limited, it seems clear that switching to oral antibiotics in selected low-risk patients may be feasible and safe.
Journal Article, May 1999
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Gene Therapy for Inherited, Inflammatory and Infectious Diseases of the Lung
These pulmonary diseases provide a clear scientific and ethical rationale for implementing gene therapy. Some approaches are being tested in human trials.
Journal Article, May 1999
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Smoke Inhalation Injury: Pulmonary Implications
The diagnosis of smoke inhalation injury is not straightforward, and because symptoms and signs are frequently absent on initial evaluation, the true extent of this injury may not manifest for 24 to 72 hours following the initial insult.
Journal Article, April 1999
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Pulmonary Host Defenses: The Role of Cytokines in Mediating Lung Inflammation
What factors mediate the host's pulmonary immune response? Are all pathogens created equal -- immunogenically, that is?
Journal Article, April 1999
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Severe Pneumonia in the Elderly: Risks, Treatment, and Prevention
Individuals 65 years of age and older are at high risk for morbidity and mortality from pneumonia if they have comorbid disease or are immunocompromised.
Journal Article, April 1999
