Long-term oxygen therapy

Article Abstract:

Long-term oxygen therapy improves survival, blood pressure in the lungs, exercise tolerance, and mental complications in patients with hypoxemia. Hypoxemia is a shortage of oxygen in the blood, often caused by lung disease. Studies have shown that people with hypoxemia should receive 24-hour oxygen therapy because survival rate increases in proportion to hours of therapy. Oxygen therapy decreases elevated blood pressure in lung arteries and reduces the demand on the heart. Neurologic symptoms that improve with oxygen therapy include alertness, hand grip, and speed of muscle response. Oxygen therapy also improves exercise tolerance and regularity of sleep. Oxygen therapy should be diagnosed and monitored based on tests that measure oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in arterial blood. Oxygen therapy can be administered with liquid or gas tanks or an oxygen concentrator, which separate oxygen from air. Transtracheal catheters and reservoir nasal cannulas are more efficient, though less common oxygen delivery devices than nasal cannulas.

Usage, Oxygen therapy

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Long-term therapy for reflux esophagitis

Article Abstract:

Combination drug therapy should be used to treat patients with special cases of reflux esophagitis that do not remain in remission with single-drug treatment. Reflux esophagitis is the irritation of the esophagus due to backward flow of acid from the stomach. Following initial treatment, relapse can often be prevented in moderate cases with acid suppressors such as H2-receptor antagonists or proton-pump inhibitors. A combination of an acid suppressor with a prokinetic drug that improves tone in the sphincter between the esophagus and the stomach may be most effective in preventing relapse in severe cases. A 1995 study showed that the acid inhibitor omeprazole alone or in combination with the prokinetic drug cisapride was more effective than either rantidine or cisapride alone in maintaining remission. Although combination therapy is more expensive it should be used in severe cases or when patients have other medical problems that may complicate treatment.

Editorial, Gastroesophageal reflux

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Extended therapy with intravenous arginine butyrate in patients with beta-hemoglobinopathies

Article Abstract:

Arginine butyrate does not appear to increase fetal hemoglobin levels in patients with thalassemia or sickle cell disease. Thalassemia and sickle cell disease are two forms of anemia caused by a defect in beta hemoglobin synthesis. Fetal hemoglobin can reduce the symptoms of these diseases because it raises hemoglobin levels in general and prevents blood cells from sickling. Ten patients with sickle cell disease or beta-thalassemia received intravenous infusions of arginine butyrate at an initial dosage of 500 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. After an average of 10 weeks, none of the patients with thalassemia responded, and the two sickle cell patients who did respond only had temporary increases in fetal hemoglobin. Side effects of the treatment included a drop in potassium in eight patients and nausea in nine.

Health aspects, Sickle cell anemia, Arginine, Thalassemia

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