HIV/AIDS News & Information

Endotracheal intubation results in a bypass of the natural warming and humidifying process through the nasopharynx, and a humidifying device is therefore necessary during respiratory tract manage­ment. Although FDA guidelines place some require­ments on the flow-resistance characteristics of humid­ifiers at continuous flow rates, there have been few reports investigating the flow-impedance characteris­tics of humidifiers under dynamic [...]

The results of our study indicate that the use of long-term oxygen via nasal cannulas in this group of subjects with COPD did not impair their sense of smell or taste. Even though significant differences were noted in the basic smell and taste test scores in all subjects with COPD as compared with controls, there [...]

Demographics Demographics of the study subjects are shown in Table 1. Age and sex were equally matched in all three groups. Subjects with COPD who were receiving oxygen had more severe obstructive lung disease as compared with subjects with COPD who were not receiving oxygen. Of the 20 subjects with COPD receiving oxygen, 17 were [...]

Smell Test Sense of smell was evaluated using the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT: commercially available as Smell Identification Test, Sensonics, Inc, Philadelphia). This test consists of four envelope-sized booklets containing ten odorants apiece, one odorant per page. The “scratch ‘n sniff” stimuli are embedded in 10- to 50-um diameter microencapsulated crystals located [...]

Subject Selection Criteria Twenty subjects with severe COPD receiving long-term oxygen therapy via nasal cannulas (group 1) and an equal number of age- and sex-matched subjects with COPD not receiving oxygen (group 2) were recruited. A healthy matched control group (group 3) was also enlisted. All subjects with COPD were receiving various medications that included [...]

Nasal catheters and cannulas are the most com- Nmonly used devices for administering low-flow oxygen. The use of these devices over prolonged periods of time has led, in some patients, to the development of local irritation, inflammation, and drying of the nasal mucosa. Other patients have complained of loss of taste of food, decreased appetite, [...]

In addition to elders viewing themselves fatalisti­cally, some professionals may share this bias. They may see older patients as less likely to change behavior or less likely to realize benefits from such change. The benefits of quitting for life expectancy and on the course of preexisting disease and the failure of many older smokers to [...]