Acute reversible hypoxemia in systemic lupus erythematosus
Article Abstract:
Systemic lupus erythematosus is a disease that results in damage to many organ systems of the body. Lung abnormalities seen in lupus include pleurisy, lung hemorrhage, and disorders of the diaphragm. Some patients with systemic lupus erythematosus have been observed to suffer from 'breathlessness while their disease was active but without obvious lung involvement. A group of 10 patients were admitted to the hospital for flare-ups of their disease. All patients had normal chest X-rays, but six had lower than expected blood levels of oxygen and were assigned to group 1. The remaining four had normal levels of blood oxygen, and were designated group 2. The group 1 patients had abnormal alveolar-arterial gradients of oxygen, meaning that the amount of oxygen available in the lung tissue was considerably greater than that found in the blood after it had passed through the lungs. All 10 patients had elevated blood levels of complement, a group of proteins intimately involved in the body's inflammatory responses. Those in group 1 had significantly higher levels of complement than those in group 2. Within three days of high doses of steroids, which are anti-inflammatory, the patients in group 1 showed considerable improvement in their lung studies. The precise reasons for the initially abnormal lung studies and their subsequent improvement are unclear. The observed response might be attributable to an acute inflammatory response in the lungs provoked by high levels of complement, which resolved after steroid therapy reduced the levels of complement and the degree of inflammation. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Annals of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4819
Year: 1991
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Targeted inspiratory muscle training improves respiratory muscle function and reduced dyspnea in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Article Abstract:
Training of patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to strengthen their respiratory muscles was shown to improve the functional capacity of the respiratory muscles and to reduce dyspnea, or breathlessness. a study was conducted in which 19 patients trained for 15 minutes, twice a day with a device which provided resistance when the patients breathed in. The device provided feedback to the patients, as it showed how strong each breath was, which allowed the patients to tell if they were training properly on a breath-to-breath basis. Patients who were in a control group trained at a constantly low resistance level, while those in an experimental group trained at increased levels of resistance. The patients who trained at increased levels of resistance showed a significant increase in the strength of their inspiratory muscles. There was, however, no significant increase in the maximum inspiratory pressure that could be achieved in the trained group compared with the control group. The trained patients had decreased dyspnea after eight weeks of training. There was no change in either lung function or strength of the expiratory muscles of the patients after training. Therefore, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may have reduced dyspnea, if they strengthen their respiratory muscles through a training program. Further study is needed to determine the optimum conditions of the training, such as the frequency, duration and intensity. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Annals of Internal Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4819
Year: 1989
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