Dyspnea: Mechanisms, Measurement And Management, Second Edition

Focusing on dyspnea as a symptom and an illness, this state-of-the-art resource covers basic scientific knowledge on, and clinical applications for, the diagnosis, evaluation, and management of acute, chronic, and positional dyspnea. Providing new directions for understanding breathlessness and devising future courses of treatment, Dyspnea -discusses how individuals become aware of breathing difficulty as a symptom -details the characteristics of breathlessness due to diseases from asthma to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease -elucidates the pathophysiological processes underlying the experience of dyspnea -lists and assesses instruments for measuring dyspnea in terms of validity, reliability, and responsiveness -outlines diagnostic approaches based on history and physical examination for establishing the cause of dyspnea -presents measures for treatment, including coping strategies, exercise training, oxygen therapy, and medication use -addresses the management of patients receiving mechanical ventilatory support -and more Furnished with references, tables, drawings, photographs, and micrographs, Dyspnea is an indispensable guide for pulmonologists, chest physicians, respiratory physiologists and therapists, pulmonary rehabilitation specialists, and graduate and medical school students in these disciplines.