Asthma: the pulse is not the paradox.
Some interesting, unusual features of asthma are discussed: that patients may be better able to evaluate the severity of their asthma than physicians; that expiratory obstruction indirectly increases the work of inspiration; that 1 of the responses to airflow obstruction is hyperventilation; that localized areas of airflow obstruction may cause increased ventilation/perfusion ratios by decreasing perfusion more than ventilation; that increasing tidal volume may cause a reduction in alveolar ventilation; and, finally, that there is evidence that asthma has worsened in recent years, despite advances in the understanding and treatment of this disease.
Williams
M H
MH
Chest Service, Bronx Municipal Hospital Center, New York 10461.
D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000503:physiopathology; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D006985:Hyperventilation / Q000503:physiopathology; D014692:Ventilation-Perfusion Ratio