Everyone Healthy Library
Chronic Obstructive Airway Disease
Also Known As: Chronic Bronchitis; Emphysema
Condition / disease reference page from the Everyone Healthy database.
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Get urgent medical care now if there is any severe, sudden, rapidly worsening or worrying symptom, especially:
- chest pain, pressure or pain spreading to the arm, jaw or back
- trouble breathing, blue lips, severe wheeze or choking
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- collapse, fainting, seizure, confusion or extreme drowsiness
- severe bleeding, black stools, vomiting blood or major injury
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- severe abdominal pain, severe headache, stiff neck or sudden vision change
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Connected health information
Explore this condition in a clear order
Condition overview
Attributes
Commonalityis common
Incidenceis approximately 1 in 6 people
Linked signs and symptoms
18Each sign/symptom opens its own page and links back to related conditions.
- Ankle Swelling (Ankle Oedema)
- Breath Shortness (Dyspnoea)
- Breathing Painful or Difficult
- Breathing Rapid Hyperventilation (Tachypnea)
- Cough
- Cough Chesty
- Cough Chronic
- Cough Productive
- Drowsiness
- Enlarged Chest (Hyperinflation)
- Headache (Cephalgia)
- Skin Bluish Coloration (Cyanosis)
- Skin: Swelling Beneath The Skin (Angioedema)
- Swelling (Oedema, Edema)
- Twitching
- Weight Loss (Body Mass Index Decreased)
- Wheezing
- White Blood Cells Raised
Linked drugs / medications
2Medication information is educational only. A doctor or pharmacist should advise whether any medicine is appropriate.
Treatments, therapies and supportive options
18Grouped by treatment type. These are educational database links, not personal treatment recommendations. Evidence labels are shown only where stored in the EH database.
Surgery
3Medical therapy
5Lifestyle changes
4Behavioural changes
1Alternative and complementary therapies
2Alternative medicine
1Linked diagnostic tests and investigations
6These are pulled from both EH diagnostic-test link tables, including the older large test-link table.
Biological markers/agents
6This visual map shows biological markers/agents reported as increased or decreased with this condition. These are educational relationships only; test results must be interpreted by a qualified clinician because ranges vary by lab, method, age, sex and clinical context.
Often increased
2- Carbon Dioxide Total Content (TCO2)Reference range exampleInfant (0 - 1y): 20–27 mEq/L; Newborn (0 - 1month): 13–21 mEq/LLinked diagnostic testsCarbon Dioxide Total Content (TCO2)
- Partial Pressure of Arterial Carbon Dioxide (PaCO2)Reference range exampleAll: 35–45 mm HgLinked diagnostic testsPartial Pressure of Arterial Carbon Dioxide (PCO2, PaCO2)
Often decreased
4- Forced Expiratory Flow Between 25% and 75% of FVC (FEF25-75)Reference range exampleAll: 60–100 %Linked diagnostic testsSpirometry
- Functional Residual CapacityReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 2,500–3,600 mLLinked diagnostic testsFunctional Residual Capacity
- RBC MassReference range exampleFemale: 36–48 %; Male: 42–52 %Linked diagnostic testsHeamatocrit (Hct)
- ReticulocytesReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 24–83 109/L; 0.5–1.5 %Linked diagnostic testsReticulocyte Absolute Count, Reticulocyte Count Percent Total RBC
Introduction / full article
Chronic Obstructive Airway Disease
Efficacy of Alternative and Other Treatments According to GRADE* Ranking:
Flaxseed Oil [1, 2, 3, 4]:
Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It may mildly help with some of the symptoms, and even then has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.
Recommendation: no recommendation (There is insufficient evidence to support claims that flaxseed oil helps to treat airway disease)
Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence
* www.gradeworkinggroup.org
Summary References
Treatments:
1. Ades T, Alteri R, Gansler T, Yeargin P, "Complete Guide to Complimentary & Alternative Cancer Therapies", American Cancer Society, Atlanta USA, 2009
2. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/flaxseed
3. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-flaxseed.html
4. http://nccam.nih.gov/health/flaxseed/index.htm