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The airways of asthma patients are "hypersensitive" to certain triggers, also known as stimuli (see below). (It is usually classified as type I hypersensitivity.) [4] [5] In response to exposure to these triggers, the bronchi (large airways) contract into spasm (an "asthma attack").
Reported clinical prevalences of IA for adults range from around 40% in a primary care practice [133] to 70% in a speciality practice treating mainly severe asthma patients. [135] Additional information on the clinical prevalence of IA in adult-onset asthma is unavailable because clinicians are not trained to elicit this type of history ...
Asthma is divided into two subgroups: atopic (extrinsic) and non-atopic (intrinsic). The atopic subgroup is closely associated with family history of the disease, whereas the non-atopic subgroup has its onset in adulthood and it is not caused by inheritance. It is known that non-atopic asthma has a more severe clinical course than atopic asthma.
Pneumonia is most commonly classified by where or how it was acquired: community-acquired, aspiration, healthcare-associated, hospital-acquired, and ventilator-associated pneumonia. [42] It may also be classified by the area of the lung affected: lobar, bronchial pneumonia and acute interstitial pneumonia; [42] or by the causative organism. [82]
Pneumonia occurs in a variety of situations and treatment must vary according to the situation. [11] It is classified as either community or hospital acquired depending on where the patient contracted the infection. It is life-threatening in the elderly or those who are immunocompromised.
Traditionally, clinicians have classified pneumonia by clinical characteristics, dividing them into "acute" (less than three weeks duration) and "chronic" pneumonias. This is useful because chronic pneumonias tend to be either non-infectious, or mycobacterial, fungal, or mixed bacterial infections caused by airway obstruction.
Data collection limitations are a result of difficulty in diagnosis, sub-clinical presentations that go undetected and variability in climate, region and proximity to local industries. [7] The most common types are bird fancier's and farmer's lung. [8] [7] Interestingly, cigarette smoking appears to be protective against the disease. [3]
Asthma is a common condition and affects over 300 million people around the world. [3] Asthma causes recurring episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing, particularly at night or in the early morning. [4] Exercise-induced asthma is common in asthmatics, especially after participation in outdoor activities in cold weather.