cardiac asthma treatment

cardiac asthma treatment questions and answers

All the information you need about cardiac asthma treatment Check out AllergiesAsthmaHelp.com For all your Allergies and Asthma Questions and Answers

Q: Breathing too fast???
We have a 4 month old 6,9lbs Mainecoon kitten and noticed he was breathing at 35-40 breathe per minute. The Vet told us that it is twice as fast as normal anit could indicate something else (asthma, Cardiac disfunction). During the first two weeks when he got home, he was sneezing a lot but is OK now. He also vomit twice during the first 2 weeks but we think it's because he eat something bad (he eats everything he finds: Dust, piece of paper, littel grain...anything). He also have very smooth poo but for that one we think it is the new food we bought because one of our other cat also has the same symptom. The Vet said it could also be worms but since he was treated against it twice the possiblity are remote. Nevertheless we will proceed with a third treatment to be on the safe side. Other than that he plays a lot, run all the time and seem perfectly right is the Vet over cautious, trying to make money with me or what?

A: It's impossible to say over the internet if there's a problem with this cat. Yes, 35-40 breaths a minute does sound fast, but was this the cat's resting breathing rate? It can also be a sign of stress which could be environmental or because it's ill. If you think the vet's trying to swindle you, take the cat to a different vet! Chalice

Q: Top Neurologists post anoxic cerebral myoclonus ?
my friend has post anoxic cerebral myoclonus following a cardiac arrest, following an asthma attack. Current treatments are clonazepam and levetiracetan. she has problems walking un aided. This happened September drugs just being changed from levi to Epilim Chrono. Are there any fantastic Neurologists out there who can help her get better. What do you recommend in terms of re hab? I am trying to find a doctor who specifies in the exact problem . Speech is gradual but walking and jerking in arms and legs a problem

A: see the doctor will be of help or see the guide by other survivors on http://knockoutheartdisease.com

Q: Where can I find the top Neurologists?
my friend has post anoxic cerebral myclonus following a cardiac arrest, following an asthma attack. Current treatments are clonazepam and levetiracetan. she has problems walking un aided. This happened September drugs just being changed from levi to Epilim Chrono. Are there any fantastic Neurologists out there who can help her get better. What do you recommend in terms of re hab? I am trying to find a doctor who specifies in the exact problem . Speech is gradual but walking and jerking in arms and legs a problem

A: Walton Hospital in Liverpool is THE Hospital to go. Fantastic Neurologists and state of the art scanners. RING THEM!

Q: I need help understanding what is going on with my grandma...?
So my grandma is in the hospital from not being able to breathe and like seriously a week ago she was walking around just fine so we take her in and they are giving her treatments for her asthma and she has like heart disease, heart arthymia, diabetes, etc. She has a had two heart attacks before and doctors are saying this is her third. They transfered her to another hospital with a cardiac area and i guess she is hooked up to ventilators and can't open her eyes or even speak much. I am so confused cause it keeps getting better but could it possibly get better?

A: thats a question for her doctor

Q: Do you agree that calcium channel blockers are the most dangerous blood pressure regulators?
I have always thought that a good course of action for prescribing blood pressure meds was this: angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors like Lisinopril. After which you try strong diuretics like Lasix. If those don't work, you can try clonidine for CNS depression of cardiovascular system, or you can offer a beta blocker like Lopressor which works to slow the heart and decrease cardiac output hence pressure on arterial walls and vessels. Beta blockers are contraindicated in asthmatic patients (like myself, who hadn't had an asthma attack since I was a kid until I confidently feeling I no longer had asthma, decided it was safe to go w/ a beta blocker, but *oh no!*). So, I guess I am saying that before I would move beyond slowing the heart or knocking the CNS a bit back, those 2 being the outer limits of what is a first approach (and I'm not talking about slight hypertension, I am talking severe long-term medically dangerous hypertension that is difficult to control and not responding to diet/lifestyle modifications), the very last thing on my list is a calcium channel blocker, because it works by forcing vessels to dilate, the danger being someone who has had constricted vessels for a long time or heart conditions in general will more likely have plaque build up, blood clots, and etc. The calcium channel blocker, in my opinion, is dangerous b/c w/out the proper pre-tests, it can set someone who is pre-disposed to stroke, heart attack, or cardiac arrest due to past heart complications on a collision course with plagues that were previously lodged in places other than, say, your brain, lungs, leg arteries, and in or around the heart. Well, I finally had to go that route after unsuccessful treatment w/ everything *but* the betablocker. and clonidine only works for a short time. My diastolic pressure is the most "out there" at >100 nearly every time I test and sometimes much higher. My heart gets next to nothing in of rest between beats (and my pulse if very high at 120 +/- 10 pts at rest. That's why the betablocker was a good choice for me (too bad about the asthma). I haven't had any of the tests completed yet, and I can't really afford them right now, but I get horrible headaches and my vessels throb throughout my body. It's terrible and not an a symptomatic case in the least! Plus my biological died of stroke in her 50s, and I'm in my 30s. Any calcium channel blocker horror stories? Not true that "I have made up my mind." Obviously, I have taken the advice of my doctor and filled the prescription and started on it. I am ready to do just about anything that will help. Right now, my bp is my enemy, not my medication; still, I have been skeptical, which is why I asked the question. My blood pressure is slowly coming down, and my bood doesn't feel like a mercury guage. I am happy to read all you had to say, but wish it weren't so nastily toned toward me, personally.

A: No. You cannot classify all calcium channel blockers (CCB) as "the most dangerous blood pressure regulators". That statement is hyperbole and filled with false assumptions. 1st, there are more than one kind of CCB (dihydropyridines, NDHs). Their mechanism of action is similar but the physiological effect differs greatly, even within each subclass. 2nd, many of them work well with low side effect profiles. These make a valuable adjunctive therapy or alternative therapy for patients who are intolerant/contraindicated to betablockers, ACEIs, thiazides or ARBs. Amlodipine, for example, is a valuable and relatively safe adjunctive antihypertensive. 3rd, There are many antihypertensives with far worse incidences of adverse (even fatal) reactions, side effects, withdrawal symptoms and interactions. Clonidine and hydralazine top the list in all of the above categories... they cause far more iatrogenic morbidity then any of the most common CCBs. Diltiazem, amlodipine, verapamil are all "safer" medicines than clonidine and hydralazine. All of this is broad and useless generalization. Medications must be tailored to the individual. Heather, It seems that you have already made up your mind based on your own bad experiences and what you have read. You are entitled to your opinion. We will have to assume that you actually want evidence-based answers (whether or not they agree with your opinion), else you would be blogging and not asking health professionals on Y!A Medicine. Clearly CCBs are not for you. Ask your physician for one of the dozens of other options. EDIT: I apologize if my tone offended you, Heather. That was not my intention. We get alot of ranters and bloggers on Y!A Medicine who don't really want an answer. Clearly you are not one of them. I agree that CCBs are not first-line HTN meds for most patients. I must respectfully disagree that they are the most dangerous HTN meds. I am glad that your doctor is looking into other options (and the underlying cause of your resistant hypertension... I'm sure he/she has checked your kidneys and adrenals...). Consider requesting a referral to a cardiologist if your current round of meds do not work. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.

Q: what is this trend with female anxiety attacks in the USA?
I have lived between the USA and the UK all of my life. When last I left the US, the term "anxiety attack" and "panic attack" were used only on occasion. As I work in health care, I think can say that I recall this. I returned to the US in 2007. Since then, many people I know (almost all women), and I, have been diagnosed with anxiety attacks. I had been experiencing strange tingling feelings in my legs and one arm. One night I woke up out of a dead sleep with serious pain and cramping down one arm and I could hardly walk. I called the ambulance. After a few tests I was told that I had an anxiety attack in my sleep. This was weird. I'd never had this happen in my life. I didn't have a family doctor as I'd never been sick. I finally got a doctor because my symptoms came and went, all of the time, and my left arm wouldn't stop shaking. My new doctor confirmed the panic/anxiety attacks and gave me Prozac and Ativan. A year later it got so bad that I knew it wasn't in my head. My inflammation markers were always high. Finally a lovely PA at the hospital figured out that I have M.S. which was confirmed. 6 women I know have been given the same diagnosis. Anxiety attacks. One of the lady's I believe definitely has them. I believe this because she is a very stressed out person with a history of depression. She is high strung and her symptoms are relieved by anti anxiety medication. However another friend was told that she was having anxiety attacks because she has palpitations and moderately painful squeezing sensations about the neck and chest. Would they say that if she was a man? She had a 2 minute ECG and then was told that it was just anxiety. This friend is extremely calm and laid back without any financial or family worries. She does, however, have high cholesterol and a big cardiac history on both sides of her family including an aunt and an uncle who died after cardiac events before the age of 45. Another lady I know was told that she was having anxiety attacks when she started experiencing dizziness, nausea and weakness. It turned out that she was pregnant. She'd had her tubes tied but it had failed. She was overjoyed though. Now she's walking her adorable little anxiety attack around in a red buggy. Today another lady I know was told that her random runs (bouts of rapid heart beats) were anxiety attacks. The area of continued study that I am currently pursuing requires me to have ride alongs on ambulances and do shifts in hospital ER's. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people practicing medicine (both men and women) refer to women patients as "just freaking out" or the like. A particular experience that comes to mind was a teenage girl who was gurgling and foaming at the mouth with brief periods of not breathing. her eyes were rolled up and she did not look well. However, I was told several times that she was faking it. She was "a teenage girl just being dramatic". I found this hard to believe when she failed to respond to pain. I wondered if she could be having a kind of seizure. Later it turned out that she was seizing (I'm not great at diagnostics or anything, it's what they'd thought she was faking). So, What I asked then is what I'm asking now? Is this an American trend? Is ot just a trend where I am living? Or am I wrong and is this something real? I've spoken extensively about it to friends and people I worked with in health care in the UK and it hasn't taken hold there, yet. I mean, it could be like scoliosis in the 70's and asthma in the 80's, the A.D.D now (EVERYONE had it until it went out of style leaving only the real sufferers to their needed treatments. I remember that you weren't cool if you didn't have an inhaler in elementary school. We made ourselves giddy overusing them). Frighteningly, it's even more like "female hysteria" from the 1800's. If they start suggesting hysterectomy's as a cure, I'll have my answer. The friend I mentioned earlier, the one that had a baby, said to me the other day,"Everyone is panicking now. Hardly anyone had anxiety before 2003". The question is: why are so many women (here, in any case) being told that their physical problems are due to a sudden anxiety disorder? Is it that people are under recession stress and women just internalize it more than men? Is it fashionable sexism mirroring the "female hysteria" of days gone by? Is there something bad in the water? Is there a virus causing symptoms of anxiety attacks? Is the role of women in society at a changing point that many women cannot withstand? Still, I was brought up by a widowed female professor who raised my siblings and I independently (without any palpitations) only to mimic the same life myself. When I went to the hospital I was told "I know, it's hard raising kids alone and struggling. Problems with kids, problems with the landlord etc". Obviously it's not easy! However, I was blessed with ho honor roll (no I don't sport the bumper sticker) very reasonably well behaved, cool, lovely children that do their chores. I own my own house, work my bottom off and am pretty content. It was multiple Sclerosis, not my children. My nerves not my mind. So, In my case, anyhow, it was not true. These days I see billboards with people saying - "Do I have Lupus?"- when I'm driving around. I know a lady that actually has it. It's a constant battle for her. I wonder, though, is this going to be the new trendy disease? Will my daughter someday be told that she has Lupus when she's sick, rather than anxiety attacks? Category Health > Diseases & Conditions > Heart Diseases honor roll (no I don't sport the bumper sticker) very reasonably well behaved, cool, lovely children that do their chores. I own my own house, work my bottom off and am pretty content. It was multiple Sclerosis, not my children. My nerves not my mind. So, In my case, anyhow, it was not true. These days I see billboards with people saying - "Do I have Lupus?"- when I'm driving around. I know a lady that actually has it. It's a constant battle for her. I wonder, though, is this going to be the new trendy disease? Will my daughter someday be told that she has Lupus when she's sick, rather than anxiety attacks? Category Health > Diseases & Conditions > Heart Diseases

A: Anyone who experiences anxiety,should have a complete medical workup to rule out any underlying physical disease. With that said, cardiac disease/illness and anxiety go hand in hand. I never had an anxiety attack until I was diagnosed with costrochrondritis ( chest rib inflammation). All women who present to ER with "female hysteria" should have an EKG, blood work, etc.If all normal,and she responds positively to minor tranquilizer, she should still follow up with her primary care physician. Same for men. I just saw one of my clients last week-middle aged man, who exhibited signs/symptoms of heart attack. After a thorough assessment, I diagnosed him with anxiety, due to Haiti. Bottom line-medical conditions should be ruled out before final anxiety diagnosis.