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Hypoventilation
Hypoventilation (also known as respiratory depression) occurs when ventilation is inadequate (''hypo'' meaning "below") to perform needed respiratory gas exchange. By definition it causes an increased concentration of carbon dioxide ( hypercapnia) and respiratory acidosis. Hypoventilation is not synonymous with respiratory arrest, in which breathing ceases entirely and death occurs within minutes due to hypoxia and leads rapidly into complete anoxia, although both are medical emergencies. Hypoventilation can be considered a precursor to hypoxia, and its lethality is attributed to hypoxia with carbon dioxide toxicity. Causes Hypoventilation may be caused by: *A medical condition such as stroke affecting the brainstem *Voluntary breath-holding or underbreathing, for example, hypoventilation training or the Buteyko method. *Medication or drugs, typically when taken in accidental or intentional overdose. Opioids are a well-known cause of drug-induced hypoventilation due to the ...
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Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome
Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) is a condition in which severely overweight people fail to breathe rapidly or deeply enough, resulting in low oxygen levels and high blood carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. The syndrome is often associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which causes periods of absent or reduced breathing in sleep, resulting in many partial awakenings during the night and sleepiness during the day. The disease puts strain on the heart, which may lead to heart failure and leg swelling. Obesity hypoventilation syndrome is defined as the combination of obesity and an increased blood carbon dioxide level during the day that is not attributable to another cause of excessively slow or shallow breathing. The most effective treatment is weight loss, but this may require bariatric surgery to achieve. Weight loss of 25 to 30% is usually required to resolve the disorder. The other first-line treatment is non-invasive positive airway pressure (PAP), usually in the ...
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Hypoventilation Training
Hypoventilation training is a physical training method in which periods of exercise with reduced breathing frequency are interspersed with periods with normal breathing. The hypoventilation technique consists of short breath holdings and can be performed in different types of exercise: running, cycling, swimming, rowing, skating, etc. Generally, there are two ways to carry out hypoventilation: at high lung volume or at low lung volume. At high lung volume, breath holdings are performed with the lungs full of air (inhalation then breath hold). Conversely, during hypoventilation at low lung volume, breath holdings are performed with the lung half full of air. To do so, one has to first exhale normally, without forcing, then hold one's breath. This is called the exhale-hold technique. The scientific studies have shown that only hypoventilation at low lung volume could lead to both a significant decrease in oxygen (O2) concentrations in the body and an increase in carbon dioxide c ...
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Hypercapnia
Hypercapnia (from the Greek ''hyper'', "above" or "too much" and ''kapnos'', "smoke"), also known as hypercarbia and CO2 retention, is a condition of abnormally elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the blood. Carbon dioxide is a gaseous product of the body's metabolism and is normally expelled through the lungs. Carbon dioxide may accumulate in any condition that causes hypoventilation, a reduction of alveolar ventilation (the clearance of air from the small sacs of the lung where gas exchange takes place) as well as resulting from inhalation of CO2. Inability of the lungs to clear carbon dioxide, or inhalation of elevated levels of CO2, leads to respiratory acidosis. Eventually the body compensates for the raised acidity by retaining alkali in the kidneys, a process known as "metabolic compensation". Acute hypercapnia is called acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF) and is a medical emergency as it generally occurs in the context of acute illness. Chronic hypercapn ...
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Hypoxia (medical)
Hypoxia is a condition in which the body or a region of the body is deprived of an adequate oxygen supply at the tissue (biology), tissue level. Hypoxia may be classified as either ''Generalized hypoxia, generalized'', affecting the whole body, or ''local'', affecting a region of the body. Although hypoxia is often a pathological condition, variations in arterial oxygen concentrations can be part of the normal physiology, for example, during strenuous physical exercise. Hypoxia differs from hypoxemia and anoxemia, in that hypoxia refers to a state in which oxygen present in a tissue or the whole body is insufficient, whereas hypoxemia and anoxemia refer specifically to states that have low or no Oxygen saturation (medicine), oxygen in the blood. Hypoxia in which there is complete absence of oxygen supply is referred to as anoxia. Hypoxia can be due to external causes, when the breathing gas is hypoxic, or internal causes, such as reduced effectiveness of gas transfer in the lung ...
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Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines (BZD, BDZ, BZs), colloquially known as "benzos", are a class of central nervous system (CNS) depressant drugs whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. They are prescribed to treat conditions such as anxiety disorders, insomnia, and seizures. The first benzodiazepine, chlordiazepoxide (Librium), was discovered accidentally by Leo Sternbach in 1955, and was made available in 1960 by Hoffmann–La Roche, which followed with the development of diazepam (Valium) three years later, in 1963. By 1977, benzodiazepines were the most prescribed medications globally; the introduction of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), among other factors, decreased rates of prescription, but they remain frequently used worldwide. Benzodiazepines are depressants that enhance the effect of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) at the GABAA receptor, resulting in sedative, hypnotic ( sleep-inducing), anxiolyt ...
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Depressant
Depressants, also known as central nervous system depressants, or colloquially known as "downers", are drugs that lower neurotransmission levels, decrease the electrical activity of brain cells, or reduce arousal or stimulation in various areas of the brain. Some specific depressants do influence mood, either positively (e.g., opioids) or negatively, but depressants often have no clear impact on mood (e.g., most anticonvulsants). In contrast, stimulants, or "uppers", increase mental alertness, making stimulants the opposite drug class from depressants. Antidepressants are defined by their effect on mood, not on general brain activity, so they form an orthogonal category of drugs. Depressants are closely related to sedatives as a category of drugs, with significant overlap. The terms may sometimes be used interchangeably or may be used in somewhat different contexts. Depressants are widely used throughout the world as prescription medicines and illicit substances. A ...
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Ventilation (physiology)
Breathing (spiration or ventilation) is the rhythmical process of moving air into ( inhalation) and out of ( exhalation) the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxygen. All aerobic creatures need oxygen for cellular respiration, which extracts energy from the reaction of oxygen with molecules derived from food and produces carbon dioxide as a waste product. Breathing, or external respiration, brings air into the lungs where gas exchange takes place in the alveoli through diffusion. The body's circulatory system transports these gases to and from the cells, where cellular respiration takes place. The breathing of all vertebrates with lungs consists of repetitive cycles of inhalation and exhalation through a highly branched system of tubes or airways which lead from the nose to the alveoli. The number of respiratory cycles per minute is the breathing or respiratory rate, and is one of the fou ...
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Fentanyl
Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic (pain medication). It is 30 to 50 times more Potency (pharmacology), potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Its primary Medicine, clinical utility is in pain management for cancer patients and those recovering from painful surgeries. Fentanyl is also used as a sedative. Depending on the method of delivery, fentanyl can be very fast acting and ingesting a relatively small quantity can cause overdose. Fentanyl works by activating μ-opioid receptors. Fentanyl is sold under the brand names Actiq, Duragesic, and Sublimaze, among others. Pharmaceutical fentanyl's adverse effects are similar to those of other opioids and narcotics including addiction, confusion, hypoventilation, respiratory depression (which, if extensive and untreated, may lead to respiratory arrest), drowsiness, nausea, visual disturbances, dyskinesia, hallucinations, delirium, a subset of the latte ...
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Respiratory Arrest
Respiratory arrest is a serious medical condition caused by apnea or respiratory dysfunction severe enough that it will not sustain the body (such as agonal breathing). Prolonged apnea refers to a patient who has stopped breathing for a long period of time. If the heart muscle contraction is intact, the condition is known as respiratory arrest. An abrupt stop of pulmonary gas exchange lasting for more than five minutes may permanently damage vital organs, especially the brain. Lack of oxygen to the brain causes loss of consciousness. Brain injury is likely if respiratory arrest goes untreated for more than three minutes, and death is almost certain if more than five minutes. Damage may be reversible if treated early enough. Respiratory arrest is a life-threatening medical emergency that requires immediate medical attention and management. To save a patient in respiratory arrest, the goal is to restore adequate ventilation and prevent further damage. Management interventions include ...
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Opioid
Opioids are a class of Drug, drugs that derive from, or mimic, natural substances found in the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy plant. Opioids work on opioid receptors in the brain and other organs to produce a variety of morphine-like effects, including analgesic, pain relief. The terms "opioid" and "opiate" are sometimes used interchangeably, but the term "opioid" is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain. Opiates are alkaloid compounds naturally found in the opium poppy plant ''Papaver somniferum''. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid use disorder, and Cold medicine, suppressing cough. The opioid receptor antagonist naloxone is used to reverse opioid overdose. Extremely potent opioids such as carfentanil are approved only for Veterinary medicine, veterinary use. Opioids are also frequently use ...
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Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's weight divided by the square of the person's height—is over ; the range is defined as overweight. Some East Asian countries use lower values to calculate obesity. Obesity is a major cause of disability and is Obesity-associated morbidity, correlated with various diseases and conditions, particularly cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. Obesity has individual, socioeconomic, and environmental causes. Some known causes are Western pattern diet, diet, low physical activity, automation, urbanization, quantitative trait locus, genetic susceptibility, medications, mental disorders, Economic policy, economic pol ...
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Adverse Drug Reaction
An adverse drug reaction (ADR) is a harmful, unintended result caused by taking medication. ADRs may occur following a single dose or prolonged administration of a drug or may result from the combination of two or more drugs. The meaning of this term differs from the term "side effect" because side effects can be beneficial as well as detrimental. The study of ADRs is the concern of the field known as ''pharmacovigilance''. An adverse event (AE) refers to any unexpected and inappropriate occurrence at the time a drug is used, whether or not the event is associated with the administration of the drug. An ADR is a special type of AE in which a causative relationship can be shown. ADRs are only one type of medication-related harm. Another type of medication-related harm type includes not taking prescribed medications, known as non-adherence. Non-adherence to medications can lead to death and other negative outcomes. Adverse drug reactions require the use of a medication. Classific ...
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