Main description:

Respiratory symptoms such as breathlessness and cough are common in patients with advancing and incurable disease. For example, cancer, chronic cardiac and pulmonary disease, progressive neuromuscular disorders and degenerative disorders all give rise to varying degrees of respiratory distress which adversely affects the patient's quality of life. In recent years, there has been significant growth into the palliation of respiratory symptoms leading to practical ways
of giving relief in hospices, hospitals and at home.

The second edition of this popular title in the Supportive Care series includes non-malignant respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis in AIDS patients, cystic fibrosis and ventilator-dependent patients, and focuses on aetiology and diagnosis and management, emphasising symptoms, quality of life and psychosocial support. The underlying theme of the book is the application of modern research-based knowledge, in a humane way, for patients with advancing disease.

Contents:

PART 1 SUPPORTIVE CARE IN RESPIRATORY MEDICINE ; 1. Palliation and supportive care ; 2. Anatomy and physiology ; 3. Quality of life: models and measurement ; 4. Principles of economic evaluation ; PART 2 MECHANISMS AND ASSESSMENT OF DYSPNOEA ; 5. The genesis of breathlessness - what do we understand? ; 6. Multidimensional assessment of dyspnoea ; PART 3 MANAGEMENT OF DYSPNOEA ; 7. Pharmacological treatment of respiratory symptoms ; 8. Oxygen and airflow ; 9. Occupational therapy and environmental modifications ; 10. Non-pharmacological strategies for dyspnoea ; 11. Nutrition and cachexia ; PART 4 DYSPNOEA IN SPECIAL SITUATIONS ; 12. Diffuse airflow obstruction and 'restrictive' lung disease ; 13. Neuromuscular and skeletal diseases, and obstructive sleep apnoea ; 14. Hyperventilation syndrome ; PART 5 COUGH AND HAEMOPTYSIS ; 15. Physiology and pathophysiology of cough ; 16. Expectoration: Pathophysiology, measurement and therapy ; PART 6 PAIN ; 17. Pain in respiratory disease - mechanisms and management ; 18. Pain assessment in respiratory disease ; PART 7 SPECIFIC DISEASES ; 19. Supportive care in Cystic Fibrosis ; 20. Assessment and management of respiratory symptoms of malignant disease ; 21. Comprehensive supportive care for chronic pulmonary infections