Article 1: Nursing incredibly easy
The article serves as a medical update for asthma and discusses the basics concerning the condition to alleviate any confusion and uncertainty that patients may go through. It begins by giving facts about asthma according to the reports given by World Health Organization. For example, WHO reports show that asthma was the most prevalent health condition in the US between 2010 and 2013, with 8% of children suffering from the condition (Montag, 2018). According to the article, asthma is a hyper-responsive condition of the airwaves, which is caused by chronic inflammation. The symptoms associated with this condition include shortness of breath, wheezing, and coughing. While allergic asthma is the most common, the other types of asthma include non-allergic, obesity asthma, fixed limitation asthma, and late-onset asthma (Montag, 2018). The article holds that the process of controlling asthma is a two-pronged approach, which is symptom management and prevention of future occurrences.
The article then gives the treatment guidelines for asthma, which begins by first defining asthma, expounding on its identification and management, giving instructions on how to treat and prevent flare-ups, and finally classifying asthma medications. The goals of asthma treatment include maintenance of the normal activities of the patient, preventing loss of function of the lungs, and managing the symptoms (Montag, 2018). The first step to achieving these goals is to conduct a physical exam through the use of assessment tools such as EPR-3 so as to design a treatment plan. A treatment plan of asthma patients will depend on the symptoms of the patient at hand before initiating a step by step GINA guideline. The article finally discusses the aspect of patient education, which involves teaching the appropriate procedures involved in taking inhaled medications (Montag, 2018). According to the article, early identification of asthma is essential because it decreases the morbidity caused by the condition. Educating the patient about asthma medication, trigger management, and early detection is important in the management of this chronic condition.
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Article 2: American Journal of Nursing
The article talks about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which affects about 16 million American citizens. It is thought that this condition could be the third leading global cause of death by 2020. A number of research studies have been conducted about this condition by various authors with the objective of creating awareness among Americans (O’Dell et al., 2018). According to the article, the condition is caused by massive exposure to noxious stimuli and it is characterized by coughing, mucus production, inflammation, and restricted airflow. The chronic inflammation of this condition breaks down lung tissues, constricts small airways, and constricts lung elastic recoil (O’Dell et al., 2018). Patients who suffer from COPD often have chronic bronchitis. Both COPD and asthma are obstructive lung diseases but the pathophysiology under which the two conditions are based differs greatly. While COPD is predominantly dominated by inflammatory cells such as macrophages, asthma mainly has mast cells.
The article then goes ahead to discuss the risk factors of COPD as well as its clinical manifestations. The most common risk factor is tobacco smoking although other risk factors also include exposure to noxious particles, exposure to dust, and advanced age (O’Dell et al., 2018). Still other related risk factors of this condition include family history of asthma and airway hyper-responsiveness. Low socioeconomic status can as well be a risk factor because it brings about exposure to pollutants, poor nutrition, and overcrowding (O’Dell et al., 2018). Some of the clinical manifestations of the condition include chronic cough, progressive dyspnea, and chronic production of sputum. The most vital preventive mechanism of the condition is the smoking cessation, which helps to slow its progression. According to the article, inactivated influenza vaccine is the most effective method of vaccination because it helps in preventing exacerbations. The medications are often administered by direct inhalation.
References
O’Dell A., Diegel-Vacek L., Burt L., & Corbridge S. (2018). Managing stable COPD: An evidence-based approach . American Journal of Nursing . 118 (9), 36-47
Montag S. (2018). Asthma. Nursing made incredibly easy . 26-32
