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Volume 16, Number 4 |
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| Driving and sleep apnoea |
Justin Pepperell MRCP DA Research Registrar; John Stradling MD FRCP Consultant/Director; Robert Davies DM FRCP Consultant, Osler Chest Unit, Churchill Hospital, Oxford |
Road traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developed countries. In the USA, for example, they ranked as the third leading cause of death in 1990.1 The most common factors in accident causation are speeding, alcohol and inattention. Other important influences are age, driving experience, male sex, visual refraction disorders, use of sedating drugs, vehicle type and driving habits. |
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| Asthma – will she grow out of it? |
Peter Helms MB PhD FRCP FRCPCH Professor of Child Health, University of Aberdeen Medical School |
Asthma has become the commonest chronic illness of childhood. While questions about its long-term management concern healthcare professionals, long-term prognosis remains the main concern of the affected individuals and their families. Several wheezing syndromes make up the asthma spectrum. |
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| Rehabilitation in severe COPD |
Rachel Garrod MSc MCSP Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, St George’s Hospital, London |
The identification of dyspnoea as a major disabling symptom of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) led to the introduction of therapies aimed at reducing exertional dyspnoea. An early programme of physical exercise and chest wall expansion was described by Charles Denison in Exercise and Food for Pulmonary Invalids (published in 1895). |
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| Influenza vaccination in a semi-rural general practice |
David Eso MBBS DFFP DRCOG Senior House Officer (GP Trainee), Department of Psychiatry, South Tyneside District Hospital |
Influenza epidemics occur annually and are of major public health importance worldwide because they are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. They are particularly hazardous for the very old, the very young and those with chronic diseases. Influenza infection is responsible for consuming scarce resources, especially if patients are hospitalised. |
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| Pulse oximetry in clinical practice – limitations and uses |
Adrian Kendrick BA PhD Clinical Scientist, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol |
Blood gas measurements are essential in clinical management, as hypoxaemia is a major cause of organ dysfunction and death.1 It is common in all aspects of medical practice, including general practice, where GPs are increasingly managing patients with chronic chest disease. While arterial sampling remains the ‘gold standard’ of blood gas measurement, it is invasive and uncomfortable for the patient. |
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| Respiratory medicine – the first ten years of the Y2Ks |
Philip Ind, Editor |
Well, this is it. The start of the new millennium. And remember, you should treat this millennium as though it will be your last! |
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| Lung transplantation – early post-transplant complications |
Anthony De Soyza MBChb MRCP BMSC Registrar in Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonary Transplant Medicine; Paul Corris FRCP Reader in Thoracic Medicine, Consultant in Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonary Transplant Medicine, Dept of Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonary Transplant Medicine, The University of Newcastle, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
This is the second in a series of three articles covering pulmonary transplantation. In Part I we reviewed indications for transplantation, and in this article we focus on early post-transplant complications and drug therapy. |
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