Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0392680 (shortness of breath)
 5,217 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The use of prehospital nebulized beta-agonists has become widespread, and their safety and efficacy has been documented. Our purpose was to study their broadened use and determine their effectiveness in specific sub-sets of wheezing patients. We conducted a six and one-half month prospective study to determine the benefit of nebulized albuterol treatments on a variety of wheezing patients whose chief complaint to paramedics was shortness of breath. Sixty-two patients were enrolled in the study and were subdivided into four groups based on patient history; asthma, COPD, asthma & COPD (A/C), and non-Asthma/non-COPD (NANC). The effectiveness of the treatment was evaluated objectively by peak expiratory flow rates (PEFR) obtained before and immediately after treatment and subjectively by the patients' evaluation of their own dyspnea. Changes in PEFR were subjected to analysis by a paired T-test. Albuterol was effective in increasing the PEFR in patients with asthma, COPD and NANC. Patients with both asthma and COPD did not demonstrate increased PEFR after treatment. The majority of all patients were subjectively improved after nebulized albuterol treatments. We conclude that aerosolized albuterol is safe and effective in the prehospital treatment of patients complaining of dyspnea who are wheezing.
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PMID:The prehospital use of nebulized albuterol on patients with wheezing whose chief complaint is shortness of breath. 145 42

Effective asthma control requires long-term (anti-inflammatory) controller medications for patients with mild-persistent to severe-persistent disease, and quick-relief bronchodilator medication for all patients with asthma to control intermittent symptoms of cough, wheeze, and bronchoconstriction, as well as acute exacerbations. For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, quick-relief and long-acting bronchodilators are primarily used in the maintenance and treatment of associated symptoms, including shortness of breath. For many years, the most widely used bronchodilator has been racemic (R, S)-albuterol, a short-acting beta2-adrenergic agonist, commonly dispensed as an inhaled aerosol or solution. Until the introduction of levalbuterol inhalation solution (Xopenex) in 1999, all marketed forms of albuterol (including Ventolin and Proventil brands) were racemic mixtures composed of a 1:1 ratio of (R)- and (S)-stereoisomers. Administered as a proportionally equivalent nebulized dose, levalbuterol [(R)-albuterol] provides greater bronchodilation than racemic albuterol and, in the appropriate clinical setting, offers the possibility for improving clinical outcomes in patients with asthma and other obstructive airway diseases. Additionally, levalbuterol can be given at lower doses than racemic albuterol to provide comparable bronchodilation, with the potential for reduced beta-mediated adverse effects in adults and children. Only since the past decade has the technology to separate stereoisomers become available, and thus the biologic activities of the albuterol stereoisomers had not been established. Binding studies have demonstrated that (R)-albuterol binds to the beta2-adrenergic receptor with a high affinity, whereas (S)-albuterol binds with 100-fold less affinity than (R)-albuterol. Other evaluations have suggested that (R)-albuterol possesses the bronchodilatory, bronchoprotective, and ciliary-stimulatory properties of racemic albuterol, while (S)-albuterol does not contribute beneficially to the therapeutic effects of the racemate and was originally assumed to be inert. However, preclinical evaluations have shown that (S)-albuterol has effects that work in opposition to (R)-albuterol and may diminish the therapeutic effects of (R)-albuterol.
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PMID:Levalbuterol in the treatment of patients with asthma and chronic obstructive lung disease. 1529 93

A 91-year old female presented to Acute Medical Unit with a 2 week history of shortness of breath and haemoptysis. Her past medical history included osteoporosis, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, cataracts, and a colonic polypectomy. Her medications: Citalopram 10 mg, Co-codamol, Beclomethasone 200 mcg inhaler, Salbutamol MDI inhaler, Omeprazole 20 mg and Alendronic acid. She was an ex-smoker with a 20-pack year history who had stopped smoking 40-years ago. She did not drink alcohol and lived alone independently.
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PMID:A Chest X-Ray causing confusion. 3112 1