Expert review of respiratory medicine
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Expert Rev Respir Med · Dec 2013
ReviewTai Chi as a form of exercise training in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese martial art which incorporates elements of strengthening, balance, postural alignment and concentration. The benefits of Tai Chi in the healthy population have been widely examined. ⋯ Furthermore, a short-term program of Tai Chi improves exercise capacity, health-related quality of life, balance and quadriceps strength in people with mild to moderate COPD. More studies are warranted to examine the effects of different styles of Tai Chi and the long-term benefits of Tai Chi as an exercise regimen for people with COPD.
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Expert Rev Respir Med · Dec 2013
Case ReportsRespiratory failure due to blastomycosis infection in a patient with hypertension, cirrhosis and chronic pancreatitis.
Blastomycosis is an endemic fungal infection in North America. It usually causes acute and occasionally chronic pneumonias with disseminated infection, particularly skin lesion, as an extrapulmonary manifestation. Many cases are asymptomatic; however, a few patients progress to develop severe pulmonary infection leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome, which carries a high mortality rate. ⋯ In our patient, it was practically impossible to establish a diagnosis of cardiac blastomycosis antemortem because of his previous cardiac history related to alcoholic cardiomyopathy, which confounded the cardiac findings. This case raises an important issue of clinically considering involvement of the heart in cases of disseminated blastomycosis. Perhaps if the patient did not have a prior cardiac history, a new onset heart failure may have suggested cardiac involvement.