An asthma patient with steroid-resistant decrease in peak expiratory flow after the Great East Japan earthquake showing spontaneous recovery after 1 month.
People living in Japan were affected in various ways after the Great East Japan earthquake of March 11, 2011. A 52-year-old female asthma patient not directly affected by the disaster experienced a decrease in peak expiratory flow (PEF) immediately after the earthquake. Despite increasing the inhaled and oral corticosteroid doses, her PEF did not recover. One month later, her PEF level abruptly returned to normal with minimal medications, which were previously ineffective, and the asthma-related symptoms vanished. The stabilization of her state of mind and actual social state seemed to be a part of the reason for the patient's recovery.
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tokyo Hospital, Japan. yanagimoto@hc.u-tokyo.ac
Shintaro
S
Yanagimoto
Michiko
M
Haida
Matsunobu
M
Suko
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D004190:Disasters; D004351:Drug Resistance; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008875:Middle Aged; D010366:Peak Expiratory Flow Rate; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones