Chiu,
T., Hu, W., Lue, B. & Chen, C. (2004). Dsypnea and
Its Correlates in Taiwanese Patients with Terminal Cancer.
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 28(2): 123-132.
Dyspnea has always been related with hard breathing
and malfunction of the lungs. What other authors failed
to see and realized that dyspnea is actually triggering
factors that affect not only breathing but also triggers
psychological distress as well. Fear is the apparent result
of hard breathing. Such psychological malfunction is the
direct cause of the possibility of death. With the elderly,
such things are hard to accept because they are suffering
from pain and hard breathing and the realization of death
is something taboo in terms and in relation with terminally
ill patients suffering from cancer.
Corner,
J, & O’Driscoll, M. (1999). Development of a Breathlessness
Assessment Guide for Use in Palliative Care Palliative
Medicine, 13(5): 375-384.
The article presented in this journal speaks of the primary
cause for the development of breathlessness. It must be
noted that the problem of breathlessness covers a multidimensional
complication. In order to educate the people in the cause
of breathlessness, the article provides a wide range of
information that will lead to the understanding of the
sickness. It pointed on the role that cancer plays in
the acquisition of breathlessness. However, there is a
little attention given to the fact that there are different
kinds of cancer. The focus must be given to the cancer
in the lungs.
Coyne, P.J, Viswanathan, R. & Smith, T.J. (2002).
Nebulized Fentanyl Citrate Improves Patients’ Perception
of Breathing, Respiratory Rate, and oxygen Saturation
in Dyspnea. Journal on Pain Symptom Manage 23(2): 157-160.
The article has given a broader understanding on the cases
of dyspnea. It defined dyspnea as impairment on the breathing
of the people. It also state that there is about 70% of
humans that are suffering from dyspnea especially those
that are considered terminally ill because of cancer.
It gives off an idea as to how the symptom of dyspnea
and its occurrence can be countered accordingly. One of
the main counter-action tested is the nebulized inhaled
fentanyl citrate. The perception of the patients about
the treatment is likewise divulged in the article.
Cygaite-Buoziene, I., Didziokiene, R. & Lesauskaite,
V. (2001). The Problem and Peculiarities of Dyspnea in
the Elderly. Gerontologija, 2(2): 116-123.
Because
of old age, there are instances wherein dyspnea is hard
to be assessed or diagnosed. Hence, it is said in this
article that an assessment is important in order to provide
a qualified and better treatment for the patients. The
reason for such an urgency is the fact that when an elderly
person acquired dyspnea it will result to a more sensitive
and complex problems on health such as the occurrence
of tissue hypoxia, hypoxia and even the circulatory system
will be exploited as well.
Farncombe. M. (2005). Dyspnea: Assessment and Treatment.
Supportive Care in Cancer, 5(2): 94-99.
Farncombe, in this article, revealed that dyspnea is one
of the most neglected symptoms experienced by many terminally
ill cancer patients. It is the poor assessment on the
symptoms that resulted to the lack of proper diagnosis
of dyspnea. Hence, this article will strengthen the claim
that more assessment should be conducted to improve the
health of the cancer patients. This article will make
medical practitioners and physicians to understand the
need to focus more on dyspnea not just as a simple symptom
but more likely a disease that needs attention.
Huijnen, B. & Van Der Horst, F. (2006). Dyspnea
in Elderly Family Practice Patients: Occurrence, Severity,
Quality of Life and Mortality over an 8-Year Period. Family
Practice, 23(1): 34-39.
In this article, the authors have established the fact
that dyspnea is actually severe and prevalent among the
patients who are 70 years old or over. The article did
not merely establish how severe the symptom is but have
elaborated on the impact it has to the patients. It has
been very apparent that all the studies conducted pointed
on the symptom of dyspnea to the cancer patients but the
truth of the matter is that dyspnea can occur even in
the absence of cancer if through old age; a patient has
been hospitalized or confined at home. Dyspnea does not
only function to hardened the breathing process of a person
but goes beyond interfering in the daily activities of
a person, Because of hard and difficult breathing, the
normal activities of a person is being made difficult
as well. For example, a simple walking is made difficult
as a person failed to breathe normally. For people who
are of old age, the occurrence of dyspnea is being triggered
only because of poor health. It is in this regard that
guidelines are being suggested to be implemented in such
a way that early diagnosis is achieved accordingly.
Smith, E. (2001). Dyspnea, Anxiety, Body Consciousness,
and Quality of Life in Patients with Lung Cancer. Journal
of Pain and Symptom Management, 21(4): 323-329.
This
study is important in order to protect the cancer patients
in being exposed to a more detrimental health environment
by prescribing home oxygen in an untimely manner. The
treatment of dyspnea should be strengthened in order to
prevent death among the cancer patients in a very untimely
manner. Dyspnea causes other cancer patients to suffer
a great ordeal of hard breathing especially with patients
that are suffering from lung cancers as well as those
that are addicted to cigarettes.
Stringer, E., McParland, C. & Hernandez, P.
(2004). Physician Practices for Prescribing Supplemental
Oxygen in the Palliative Care Setting. Journal of Palliative
Care, 20(4): 303-307.
It
is said that the common practice of physicians in the
health care setting when dealing with palliative care
for advance cancer patients is the prescription of supplemental
oxygen. For advanced cancer patients, some physicians
are prescribing supplemental oxygen in order to aid the
patients in breathing. However, there are some problems
and hindrances that affect the decision of the physicians
in prescribing the supplemental oxygen. It must be noted
that even if the physicians would really want to help
the patients in breathing and to make their lives easier
as well, they do not prescribe supplemental oxygen without
considering the symptoms of dyspnea. In this article,
the benefits of supplemental oxygen are described accordingly
but the prescription is limited especially with the symptoms
of dyspnea. The reasons for this scenario is greater described
and explained in the entirety of the article.
Uronis, H.E (2008). Oxygen for Relief of Dyspnea
in Mildly-or-Non-Hypoxaemic Patients with Cancer: A Systematic
Review and Meta-Analysis. British Journal of Cancer, 98:
294-299.
With
the principle of not prescribing oxygen support to every
cancer patients that easily triggered the author of the
article to conduct a study concerning the determination
of the efficacy in using palliative oxygen and treatment
among cancer patients that are experiencing dyspnea. Medical
air and palliative oxygen are being used by many medical
practitioners in the treatment of dyspnea among the cancer
patients. However, the author wants to determine which
among the two treatments is most useful. The factors affecting
the treatments are compared with each other in order to
arrive into an assessment set forth to qualify patients
for therapy using home oxygen.
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