Exam 3 Review:  Chapter 22:  Breathing Disorders

hypercapnia - A condition marked by an unusually high concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood as a result of hypoventilation; the additional CO₂ may lead to respiratory acidosis.

hyperventilation - Abnormally fast or deep respiration, which results in the loss of carbon dioxide from the blood, thereby causing a fall in blood pressure, tingling of the extremities, and light-headedness, dizziness, and sometimes fainting and chest pain if continued; the loss of CO₂ may lead to respiratory alkalosis.

hypocapnia - A condition marked by an unusually low concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood as a result of hyperventilation; the loss of CO₂ may lead to respiratory alkalosis.

hypoventilation - Abnormally slow or shallow respiration, which results in the retention of carbon dioxide in the blood, the retention of CO₂ may lead to respiratory acidosis.

asthma - A chronic respiratory disease (one of the COPDs), often arising from allergies, which is characterized by sudden recurring attacks of labored breathing, accompanied with a wheezing sound, a sense of chest constriction, spasmodic paradoxical contraction of the bronchi, and coughing and expectoration; changes in temperature or humidity, upper respiratory infections, exercise, stress or smoke (cigarette) can exacerbate the symptoms; treatments include bronchodilator drugs (oral and inhaled), and corticosteroids for more difficult cases.

pneumothorax - An accumulation of air or gas in the pleural cavity, occurring as a result of disease or injury, or sometimes induced to collapse the lung in the treatment of tuberculosis and other lung diseases; symptoms include shortness of breath, and severe one-sided (the affected side) chest pain on inhalation.

eupnea - Normal, unlabored breathing; the type observed in a normal individual under resting conditions; the normal resting adult respiratory rate is 12-20 breaths/minute.

apnea - A temporary absence or cessation of breathing.

dyspnea - Any difficulty in breathing, often associated with lung or heart disease and resulting in shortness of breath.  nickname - air  hunger

tachypnea - An abnormally rapid, usually shallow, respiratory rate; the clinically significant form of hyperventilation, which results in the loss of carbon dioxide from the blood, thereby causing a fall in blood pressure, tingling of the extremities, and light-headedness, dizziness, and sometimes fainting and chest pain if continued; the loss of CO₂ may lead to respiratory alkalosis.

aspiration - (1) Expulsion of breath in speech.  (2) The process of removing fluids or gases from the body with a suction device.  (3)  The act of inhaling fluid or a foreign body into the bronchi and lungs, often after vomiting.

atelectasis - The total or partial collapse of an expanded  lung or a lobe of a lung, usually due to an obstruction of a bronchus by a mucus plug, infection, or cancer; also, the failure of the pulmonary alveoli to expand at birth; symptoms include low-grade fever, dry cough, chest pains and mild shortness of breath.

scuba - A portable apparatus containing compressed air and used for breathing under water; it is an acronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.

nitrogen narcosis - A condition of confusion or stupor resulting from increased levels of dissolved nitrogen in the blood, potentially occurring in deep-sea divers breathing air under high pressure.

decompression sickness - A disorder, seen especially in deep-sea divers, caused by the formation of nitrogen bubbles (air embolism) in the blood and tissues following a sudden drop in the surrounding pressure, as when ascending rapidly from a dive, and characterized by severe pains in the joints and chest, skin irritation, cramps, and paralysis.  aka - caisson disease; nickname - the bends

hyperbaric oxygenation - To treat, or infuse with oxygen at pressures higher than normal atmospheric pressure, e.g., in a hyperbaric chamber; it is a treatment for decompression sickness, carbon monoxide poisoning and for some burn patients receiving skin grafts.

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