What’s Hot Now in Medicine

Definition: Corticosteroids, such as Flovent, Pulmicort, Azmacort, and Vanceril are inhaled anti-inflammatory drugs that reduce swelling of the airways, which also reduces mucus production. This type of drug is also available in pill and liquid form.

Corticosteroids are often prescribed if bronchodilators alone cannot control airway obstruction. Inhaled steroids improve breathing, reduce COPD symptoms, and can improve the effects of bronchodilators on the lungs. They must be used regularly for maintenance, not for immediate relief. Bronchodilators should be used for immediate relief.

Always rinse your mouth thoroughly with water after using a corticosteroid to prevent thrush. Thrush is a fungal infection causes creamy white patchy eruptions on your mouth, tongue, and throat.

Is is important not to take cough suppressants or sedatives as they can depress your respiratory system and can cause a buildup of pulmonary secretions.

Source: Coping With COPD by Elaine Fantle Shimberg

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Definition: Microscopic hair-like structures on the cells lining the inner surface of the airways and lungs that wave continuously in an upward direction to remove mucus from the lung.

Source: Lung Cancer by Lorraine Johnston

Pronunciation: SIL ee uh

Common Misspellings: silia, cillia, sillia

Examples: Cilia in smokers are often times immobile

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Definition: Chrysotile asbestos, the fibrous variety of the mineral serpentine, is by far the most important type of asbestos. It forms in metamorphic rock, that is, rock that has been altered by intense heat and pressure.

Chrysotile is a less dusty material and is more easily eliminated from the human body than amphiboles. It is also the only type of asbestos used today. The industry now only markets dense and non-friable materials in which the chrysotile fibre is encapsulated in cement or resin.

90% of the world production of chrysotile is used in the manufacture of chrysotile-cement, in the form of pipes, sheets and shingles. These products are used in some sixty industrialized and developing countries.

According to a group of experts convened by the World Health Organization (WHO), chrysotile-cement products do not present risks of any significance to public health (e.g.
asbestosis and mesothelioma) or the environment. Moreover, workers in this industry, whether employed in the manufacture, installation or removal of materials, are not exposed to any detectable risk when effective prevention and control measures are applied.

Source: Asbestos Institute

Also Known As: White Asbestos

Common Misspellings: chrisotile crysotile crisotile

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Definition: Atelectasis is a partial or total collapse of the lung. It occurs when all the gas in the alveoli is absorbed and not replaced.

Pronunciation: at el EK’ te sis

Examples: Atelectasis occurs in chronic bronchitis when blocked airways prevent oxygen from entering

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Definition: The term “chronic” is used to describe an illness, condition, or disease which has a long duration, continues for a long period of time, or lingers for some time.

The opposite of “chronic” is “acute”.

Source: Tuberculosis by Diane Lancey

Examples: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is a lung disease which develops over a long period of time and continues to linger throughout a person’s lifespan.

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Definition: Chemotherapy is the treatment of a disease using specific chemical agents or drugs.

Chemotherapy, when used for treating Lung Cancer, can be done preoperatively to reduce the size of the tumor(s) and kill microscopic cancerous cells prior to surgery. It can also be done postoperatively to kill any cancerous cells that may remain after surgery. Chemotherapy can also be used as a sole means of treatment or in conjunction with radiotherapy when surgery is not an option.

When chemotherapy is used in conjunction with surgery, it is called adjuvant chemotherapy. Its only purpose is to increase the success of surgery when surgery is used as a tool to cure the lung cancer.

Source: Tuberculosis by Diane Yancey and Lung Cancer by Lorraine Johnston

Also Known As: Cytotoxic therapy

Examples: One side effect to chemotherapy is hair loss

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Definition: Carbon monoxide (CO) is a common by-product produced when fossil fuels are burned. It is an odorless, colorless, tasteless gas that, at high levels, can cause death when inhaled. The CO enters the bloodstream, depriving the organs and tissues of oxygen (O2). When the body is deprived of oxygen, cells begin to die; death quickly follows.

Also Known As: CO

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Definition: A bullectomy is a surgical procedure whereby small portions of the lung, called bulla, are removed. Bulla are large areas (> 1 cm in diameter) in the lung filled with oxygen-depleted air. A bullectomy allows functioning alveoli, in the vicinity of the removed bulla, more room to expand and contract, thereby allowing for better breathing.

Published: 02/18/06
Sources: University of Piitsburgh, Medical Center (UPMC); University of California at San Francisco (UCSF)

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Definition: Bronchoscopy is a diagnostic procedure in which a pulmonologist inserts a bronchoscope into the trachea, main stem bronchi, and some of the small bronchi. This procedure is typically used to take samples (biopsy) of suspicious lesions and for culturing specific areas of the lung.

A bronchoscope is a flexible tube less than 1/2 inch wide and about 2 feet long. It has a tiny camera on the end.

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Definition: Bronchodilators are prescription medications used to relax the smooth muscles of your constricted airways. When the smooth muscles relax, the airways dilate (widen), making it easier to breathe and cough up sputum.

Bronchodilators are inhaled through a device called an inhaler or “puffer” that delivers a measured dosage of medication with each puff.

The history of bronchodilators goes back 4000 years to a Chinese doctor named Ma Huang, who devised a bronchodilator using Ephedra. The first modern-day bronchodilators, developed about 70 years ago, included ephedrine and adrenaline. Prior to that, whisky, caffeine, tobacco, and chloroform were used to treat paroxysms of the bronchial tubes.

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