Obstructive Lung Disorders Research Articles

Dyspnea: A Case for Nursing Diagnosis Status

Dyspnea, the unpleasant subjective sensation of difficult breathing, is one of the most common symptoms experienced by patients with pulmonary and cardiac disorders. This article reviews the research concerning dyspnea and proposes it for consideration as a nursing diagnosis. The etiologies are categorized according to the neurosensory, neurochemical, cognitive, and affective mechanisms. The defining characteristics include the subjective words describing dyspnea, such as shortness of breath, suffocation, and tightness. The most supported objective sign of dyspnea in the literature is an increased use of accessory muscles of respiration. Nursing interventions for dyspnea relief are geared toward reducing the afferent activity from receptors in the respiratory muscles and dealing with the affective component of dyspnea. These interventions include pacing activities, breathing techniques, and inducing the relaxation response. Because most research for interventions to reduce dyspnea have focused on patients with obstructive lung disorders who have chronic dyspnea, recommendations for further research include using acutely ill patients and those with a variety of medical conditions.

Mortality pattern among pulp and paper mill workers in Sweden: A case‐referent study

The mortality pattern among Swedish pulp and paper mill workers was evaluated in a case-referent study encompassing 4,070 men decreased during the period 1950-1987. The subjects were identified from the register of deaths and burials in six parishes. A significantly increased mortality was seen for diabetes mellitus and for secondary tumors of the lung and liver among the pulp and paper mill workers. Indications of excess risks were also found for obstructive lung disorders, pulmonary emboli, accidents, and pneumonia, as well as for malignant lymphomas, leukemias, and cancer of the pancreas and stomach. In the only parish where a sulfite process was exclusively used, cancer of the digestive tract and especially of the rectum was found to be in excess. Except for this parish, the sulfate process predominated in the plants included. The mortality pattern found in this study is in reasonable agreement with findings in various studies from this type of industry.

Chinese Acupuncture in Obstructive Lung Disorders

Chinese Acupuncture in Obstructive Lung Disorders

Suspended particulate matter in dwellings — the impact of tobacco smoking

The indoor concentration of suspended particulate matter (SPM) was measured in forty-four retrofitted and tight dwellings, which had electric cooking and were central heated and where the basic ventilation rate in median amounted 0.23 air changes per hour as measured with a tracer dilution method. The indoor concentration of SPM was in median 230 μg/m 3 with a strong correlation to the tobacco consumption ( r s =0.716), but with no correlation to the frequency of airing or the basic ventilation rate. Tobacco smoking seems to be the main indoor source of SPM in contemporary dwellings. The importance of these findings is underlined by epidemiologic studies on passive smoking and health. Air quality standards for the ambient air are based on certain risk groups such as infants, children, persons with chronic obstructive lung disorders, and indoor air standards should be based on the same concepts of health protection.

The relationship of acute respiratory illness history to the prevalence and incidence of obstructive lung disorders.

Several studies have suggested that acute respiratory illnesses (ARI) may be precursors to chronic obstructive lung diseases, as well as being exacerbations of such diseases. The relationship of retrospective and prospective data on ARI to the prevalence and incidence of obstructive lung disorders has been examined in the community epidemiologic study of obstructive diseases a longitudinal study in Tucson. It has been determined that both the previous and subsequent history of ARI are significantly associated with the prevalence and incidence of airways obstructive diseases, those diagnosed by physicians and those inferred by symptoms. Lung function impairment also appears to be associated with such illnesses. This study implicates ARI as one of the major factors associated with the etiology as well as the natural history of chronic obstructive lung disease.