Hyperventilation

The expert guide to a range health issues caused by poor breathing. Do you sometimes experience panicky feelings for no apparent reason? Do you experience tingling sensations in your lips or fingertips - or both? Do you frequently feel 'spaced out' or find it hard to concentrate at work? Do you sometimes feel breathless for no apparent reason? Have you ever been accused of being a hypochondriac? Has your self-confidence taken a nose dive? If so, you are not alone. 12% of the population suffers from hyperventilation syndrome in varying degrees and experience distressing fears along with the puzzling array of symptoms that accompany bad breathing. This new expanded and updated edition of this classic book contains a workbook section to help the reader identify how their stress levels, sleep and symptom patterns interrelate with each other. Also included are a number of personal stories from people who have been identified as chronic hyperventilators and who have overcome the problems by using the drug-free methods outlined in this book.

Respiratory ailments are the most common reason for emergency admission to hospital, the most common reason to visit the GP, and cost the NHS more than any other disease area. This pocket-sized handbook allows instant access to a wealth of information needed in the day-to-day practice of respiratory medicine.

We start life with a breath, and the process continues automatically for the rest of our lives. Because breathing continues on its own, without our awareness, it does not necessarily mean that it is always functioning for optimum mental and physical health. The opposite is true often. The problem with breathing is that it seems so easy and natural that we rarely give it a second thought. We breathe: we inhale, we exhale. What could be simpler? But behind that simple act lies a process that affects us profoundly. It affects the way we think and feel, the quality of what we create, and how we function in our daily life. Breathing affects our psychological and physiological states, while our psychological states affect the pattern of our breathing. For example, when anxious, we tend to hold our breath and speak at the end of inspiration in a high-pitched voice. Depressed people tend to sigh and speak at the end of expiration in a low-toned voice. A child having a temper tantrum holds his or her breath until blue in the face. Hyperven tilation causes not only anxiety but also such a variety of symptoms that patients can go from one specialty department to another until a wise clinician spots the abnormal breathing pattern and the patient is successfully trained to shift from maladaptive to normal breathing behavior.

This authoritative, research-based book, written by a team of clinical experts, offers an introduction to the symptoms and causes of disordered breathing as well as the strategies and protocols that can be used to correct and restore normal breathing. Multidisciplinary Approaches to Breathing Pattern Disorders guides readers through a discussion of the current research that links disordered breathing patterns with perceived pain levels, fatigue, stress and anxiety. Basic mechanics, physiology, and biochemistry of normal breathing are outlined to lay a foundation for understanding causes and mechanics of disordered breathing. Self-help strategies with charts and workbook pages that may be photocopied as handouts are designed to help patients overcome specific breathing problems. "...this second edition is particularly outstanding, providing a good basis of practical hands-on techniques, well supported by pictures and the website, and giving specific focus on sports, speech and chronic pain." Reviewed by Janet Rowley on behalf of the New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy, January 2015 "..a fantastic resource which will help students, clinicians, and physiotherapists to carry out effective evaluation and treatment in an acute care setting." Reviewed by Poonam Mehta on behalf of the New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy, January 2015

Recognize and treat non-psychogenic causes of hyperventilation. In elderly persons, psychogenic causes are more rare than in younger ones. Recognize psychogenic hyperventilation as a cause of chest pain or undefined neurological findings, and to be able to explain the benign character of the symptoms to the patient.

This is the seventh edition of a long-selling book (first edition 1991) that was translated into Italian, French, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, English. In the last ten years, stress echocardiography has exploded in its breadth and variety of applications. From a one-fits-all approach (wall motion by 2D-echo in the patient with known or suspected coronary artery disease), the field has progressed to an omnivorous, next-generation laboratory employing a variety of technologies (from M-Mode to 2D, from pulsed, continuous, color and tissue Doppler to lung ultrasound) on patients covering the entire spectrum of severity (from elite athletes to patients with end-stage heart failure) and ages (from children with congenital heart disease to the elderly with aortic stenosis). This new edition is enriched with over 300 figures, 150 tables and video-clips. In a societal and economic climate of increasing pressure for appropriate, justified and optimized imaging, stress echocardiography offers the great advantages of being radiation-free, relatively low cost, with minimal environmental impact, and with a staggering versatility: we can get more (information) with less (cost and risk). The volume will be a tremendous aid to current best practices for all health operators who intend to use stress echocardiography and ultrasound for diagnosis and guidance of optimal management in their patients.

Hyperventilation - taking in more air than needed - is habitual for some people. Dinah Bradley outlines remedies that incorporate breathing exercises, posture adjustments, and stress reduction. This new edition includes a workbook for readers to chart their progress.