Asthma, or reactive airway disease, is a chronic disorder that results in restricted breathing due to inflammation of the bronchial tubes, the main air passages in the lungs. Asthma affects 3 to 5 percent of adults and 7 to 10 percent of children in the United States. Severe asthma attacks cause approximately 5,000 deaths per [...]
During normal respiration, air travels through the nose, down the trachea, and into smaller and smaller airways called bronchi. The bronchi divide into bronchioles and finally into tiny grape-like clusters of thin, fragile sacs called alveoli. In the alveoli, oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide in the blood.
Pneumonia is a serious infection or inflammation of [...]
The circulatory system carries blood throughout the body via an intricate network of arteries and veins. The venous system is the section of the circulatory system that uses veins to return the used, or deoxygenated, blood to the heart and lungs. Occasionally, irregularities in the wall of a vein (especially in areas of slow flow, [...]
For the next few videos in our series in partnership with CareFlash, we look at common respiratory issues common in seniors.
Emphysema Background
During normal respiration, air travels through the nose, down the trachea, and into smaller and smaller airways called bronchi. The bronchi divide into bronchioles and finally into tiny grape-like clusters of thin, fragile sacs [...]
The brain is composed of gray and white matter containing millions of nerve cells. These nerve cells, or neurons, communicate through the release of chemicals called neurotransmitters. Once a neuron is stimulated, a neurotransmitter is released from the neuron and it crosses a gap called a synapse; it then binds to a receptor on another [...]
I took an informal survey of friends and family this week – those with parents of the age to consider elder care of some sort. I was trying to understand their knowledge of popular diseases and medical conditions. Specifically, I was trying to determine two things:
What percentage of them were familiar with common diseases and [...]
As a resident of an assisted living community, maintaining good nutrition is one of the most important ways to insure a long and healthy life. Food, for better or for worse, is the fuel we run on. Just like vehicles, bad fuel can cause us many expensive and troublesome problems, especially as we age. Unfortunately, [...]
Traditionally, it was thought that insurers like Medicare required that the patient be unable to leave home to qualify for house calls covered by medical insurance. However, clarifications of policies have opened the option of home health care to other patients who would likewise benefit from house calls by a doctor or nurse practitioner.
Home care [...]
