• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.12-22
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• 2005

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to find out the quality of life and to identify the related characteristics for nursing care in pneumconiosis elderly patients. Methods: The subjects for this study were 206 elderly patients who received pneumoconiosis treatment in the two pneumoconiosis specialized hospitals located in Gangwondo, Korea. The instrument used for this study was Quality of Life Index Pulmonary version III. The data was collected from February 17 to March 10, 2003, and analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, Duncan test using SPSS. Results: The results of this study were as follows : 1. The highest frequency in chief complaints was dyspnea, 91 subjects(44.2%), and complications was tuberculosis, 88 subjects (42.7%). 2. The total mean score of the level of quality of life was $14.49{\pm}2.18$. 3. The score of quality of life showed higher in good family relationship group than the other after diagnosed pneumoconisis(F=5.486, P=0.001). 4. The comparison of quality of life was significant according to oxygen use(t=2.674, P=0.008), bronchodilators use(t=2.678, P=0.008), and prospect of future health status concerning pneumoconiosis(F=2.960, P=0.021). Conclusions: In conclusion, adequate nursing intervention as effective management of respiratory symptoms and improvement of family support will be needed to improve the quality of life in pneumoconiosis elderly patients.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.1111-1118
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• 2023

As a long-term condition that affects the airways and lungs, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by inflammation, emphysema, breathlessness, chronic cough, and sputum production. Currently, the bronchodilators and anti-inflammatory drugs prescribed for COPD are mostly off-target, warranting new disease management strategies. Accumulating research has revealed the gut-lung axis to be a bidirectional communication system. Cigarette smoke, a major exacerbating factor in COPD and lung inflammation, affects gut microbiota composition and diversity, causing gut microbiota dysbiosis, a condition that has recently been described in COPD patients and animal models. For this review, we focused on the gut-lung axis, which is influenced by gut microbial metabolites, bacterial translocation, and immune cell modulation. Further, we have summarized the findings of preclinical and clinical studies on the association between gut microbiota and COPD to provide a basis for using gut microbiota in therapeutic strategies against COPD. Our review also proposes that further research on probiotics, prebiotics, short-chain fatty acids, and fecal microbiota transplantation could assist therapeutic approaches targeting the gut microbiota to alleviate COPD.

• CELLMED
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.6.1-6.6
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• 2024

The prevalence of respiratory diseases is increasing due to social and environmental factors such as increased environmental pollution and air pollution, and among them, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in particular has a high mortality and morbidity rate worldwide. As a result, medical expenses are rapidly increasing, creating a social and economic burden. In response to this, there is a need to discuss ways to reduce the risk from diseases and manage them appropriately, and the most basic starting point in this process is how these chronic lung disease patients are treated in actual clinical settings and how to improve the quality of treatment. There is a need to look into whether there are effective drugs. Western treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is basically a disease in which the airway narrows, so bronchodilators are used to widen the bronchi, and corticosteroids and antibiotics are mainly used to relieve the inflammatory response in the lungs. However, since the mainly used Western medicine does not serve as a fundamental therapeutic drug and contains many side effects, there is a need for drugs that improve the quality of life of patients and are more effective in managing symptoms as symptomatic prescriptions. Therefore, Western and Oriental medicine treatments are needed. The purpose is to suggest better treatments through comparative analysis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.270-274
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• 2001

A functional upper airway obstruction due to a vocal cord dysfunction(VCD) is characterized by a paradoxical adduction of the vocal cords throughout the respiratory cycle with no obvious organic cause for the obstruction. It commonly occurs paroxysmally and imitates acute asthmatic attacks, often in patients with coexisting asthma. They present with episodes of dyspnea associated with inspiratory wheezing that persists despite conventional asthma treatment and a flattening of the inspiratory limb of the flow-volume curve ; an adduction of the vocal cord during inspiration. Failure to recognize concurrent vocal cord dysfunction and asthma has led not only to the excessive use of bronchodilators and corticosteroids, but also to intubation and tracheostomy. Here, we report a case of coexistent obstructive pulmonary disease and functional upper airway obstruction due to a vocal cord dysfunction where a bronchoscopy showed a paradoxical vocal cord motion and typical features of a variable extrathoracic obstruction and a lower airway obstruction on the Flow-volume loop during a symptomatic period.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.338-345
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• 2003

A 65-year-old man was admitted due to low grade fever, dry coughing, and dyspnea on exertion. The chest radiograph and CT scan showed diffuse ground glass opacities and small nodules in the both lung fields resulting in a diagnosis of severe interstitial pneumonia. Conservative treatment with antibiotics and bronchodilators decreased the symptoms, but the dyspnea and cough reappeared when he returned home. An inspection of his house revealed the presence of fungi under the wallpaper. His symptoms disappeared completely after these were removed. His clinical course raised the suspicion of hypersensitivity pneumonitis and these fungi believed to be the cause of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. The histological findings of a lung specimen by video-assisted thorachoscopy were compatible with hypersensitivity pneumonitis. The fungi were identified as Alternaria.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.81 no.3
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• pp.198-215
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• 2018

Bronchodilators provide improvements in lung function and reductions in symptoms and exacerbations, and are the mainstay of pharmacological management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease strategy recommends the use of a combination of long-acting ${\beta}_2-agonist$/long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LABA/LAMA) as the first-line treatment option in the majority of symptomatic patients with COPD. This review provides an indirect comparison of available LABA/LAMA fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) through discussion of important efficacy and safety data from the key literature, with the objective of providing physicians with a framework for informed decision-making. LABA/LAMA FDCs provided greater benefits compared with placebo and similar or greater benefits compared with tiotropium and salmeterol/fluticasone in improving lung function, dyspnea, health-related quality of life, reducing rescue medication use and preventing exacerbations, although with some variability in efficacy between individual FDCs; further, tolerability profiles were comparable among LABA/LAMA FDCs. However, there is a disparity in the amount of evidence generated for different LABA/LAMA FDCs. Thus, this review shows that all LABA/LAMA FDCs may not be the same and that care should be taken when extrapolating individual treatment outcomes to the entire drug class. It is important that physicians consider the efficacy gradient that exists among LABA/LAMA FDCs, and factors such as inhaler devices and potential biomarkers, when choosing the optimal bronchodilator treatment for long-term management of patients with COPD.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.87 no.3
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• pp.319-328
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• 2024

Background: Although inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) is reportedly associated with a higher risk of pneumonia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the clinical implications of ICS have not been sufficiently verified to determine their effect on the prognosis of pneumonia. Methods: The electronic health records of patients hospitalized for pneumonia with underlying COPD were retrospectively reviewed. Pneumonia was confirmed using chest radiography or computed tomography. The clinical outcomes of pneumonia in patients with COPD who received ICS and those who received long-acting bronchodilators other than ICS were compared. Results: Among the 255 hospitalized patients, 89 met the inclusion criteria. The numbers of ICS and non-ICS users were 46 and 43, respectively. The CURB-65 (confusion, uremia, respiratory rate, blood pressure, age ≥65 years) scores at the initial presentation of pneumonia were comparable between the two groups. The proportions of patients with multilobar infiltration, pleural effusion, and complicated pneumonia in the radiological studies did not vary between the two groups. Additionally, the defervescence time, proportion of mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit admission, length of hospital stays, and mortality rate at 30 and 90 days were not significantly different between the two groups. ICS use and blood eosinophils count were not associated with all pneumonia outcomes and mortality in multivariate analyses. Conclusion: The clinical outcomes of pneumonia following ICS use in patients with COPD did not differ from those in patients treated without ICS. Thus, ICS may not contribute to the severity and outcomes of pneumonia in patients with COPD.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.32-35
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• 2013

Six English Bull dogs from the same dog training camp were referred with main complaints of stridor, gagging and coughing. Diagnostic imaging studies on these dogs revealed hypoplastic trachea with/without bronchopneumonia. The mean age of affected dogs was $4.83{\pm}2.63$ months, while the mean body weight was $9.03{\pm}5.30$ kg. The mean ratio of the tracheal diameter to the thoracic inlet distance (TD/TI) was $0.085{\pm}0.022$ (normally 0.16 or greater), whereas the mean ratio tracheal diameter to the width of the third rib (TD/W3R) was $1.36{\pm}0.36$ (normally 2 or greater). All dogs had marked inspiratory dyspnea with variable degree of coughing. Of 6 dogs, 4 dogs had either bronchitis or bronchopneumonia. Treatment with antibiotics and bronchodilators made improvement on clinical signs on these dogs. Although some dogs still had mild inspiratory dyspnea (especially after exercise or excitement), most dogs live normally.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical manifestations and 5-year natural course of recurrent bronchiolitis or reactive airways disease (RAD) in infants. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of infants with recurrent bronchiolitis from January 2007 to December 2007 at The Catholic University of Korea St. Mary's Hospital in Incheon, South Korea. Additionally, we telephoned their parents to confirm their present medical statuses. Results: Sixty-three subjects with recurrent bronchiolitis were identified. The mean age at admission was 8.1 months and the number of males was 44 (69.8%). Of the 63 infants with recurrent bronchiolitis, inhaled corticosteroids, bronchodilators, and antibiotics were given to 62 (98.4%), 53 (84.1%), and 40 (63.5%), respectively. Among the total 63 subjects, we were able to contact the parents of 45 children by telephone. None of these children had been hospitalized during the previous one year period due to respiratory infections or for other medical reasons. Of the 45 subjects we were able to contact, 38 (84.4%) had not experienced any further respiratory difficulties at all. Five (11.1%) had been diagnosed with allergic rhinitis while two (4.4%) were being managed for asthma. Conclusion: Most children who presented with recurrent episodes of bronchiolitis in infancy did not show any further respiratory difficulties after five years of age.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.165-174
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• 2003

Background : Asthma is one of the most prevalent diseases in Korea. Although the guidelines of asthma management were reported in Korea, the present pattern of asthma management by primary physicians has not been studied. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the pattern of asthma management by primary physicians. Methods : In November 2002, 710 primary physicians specializing in internal medicine in Seoul, Korea were provided with two scenarios of asthmatic patients, one mild and the other severe. By mail or interview, the physicians were asked several questions about their present pattern of asthma management for the patients in each scenario. Results : Among 710 primary physicians, we obtained the answers from 325 physicians (response rate 46%). The most preferred prescription was oral theophylline. 71% and 81% of the physicians answered that they would prescribe oral theophylline for the mild and severe asthmatics, respectively. The next prescription preferred were mucolytics and oral ${\beta}_2$-agonist, in that order. However, 36% and 56% of the physicians answered that they would prescribe inhaled steroids for the mild and severe asthmatics, respectively. Among diagnostic tests, physicians preferred pulmonary function test to the rank next to chest radiography. Conclusion : The primary physicians in Seoul prefer oral bronchodilators to inhaled steroids in asthma management. More efforts should be made to reduce the difference between the present pattern of asthma management by primary physicians and the asthma guidelines.