

A Patient with Asthma Seeks Medical Advice in 1828, 1928, and 2012 - tokenadult
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1102783

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ilaksh
I've had asthma my whole life. Just a few years ago I realized that my
nighttime asthma problems were caused by acid reflex and I stopped taking my
asthma medicine and replaced it with acid reducers. My asthma medicine wasn't
helping. The most important thing now is that I sleep on my left side.

This is something I figured out myself based on Googling. None of my doctors
ever suggested it.

I am not sure if this was my entire problem my whole life or if its just
gotten worse recently and that's why I notice it more.

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foobarbazetc
You need to change doctors. Any doctor worth their salt would have made this
diagnosis. Seriously.

You should see a gastroenterologist for proper treatment of your reflux.

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bane
Interesting timing, my friend's son was recently hospitalized (in the ICU)
with a severe asthma attack. Very scary, and a week later he's still in the
hospital -- but improving and out of the ICU.

His treatment? O2 and a nebulizer of some sort.

I can't help but think that with how common asthma is, that we'd be further
along in treating it than a 5 or 6 day stay in a hospital for a bad flare up.

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adammichaelc
Interesting. In many ways we are still in the dark ages of medicine (treating
symptoms). In the future we will know the causes of asthma, and directly fix
them.

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sliverstorm
I would argue that the dark ages of medicine were the dark ages. Yes, we might
still be tilting at windmills in our battle with symptoms, but this is no dark
ages, rife with misinformation, superstition and a complete lack of records.

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InclinedPlane
Indeed. Our ignorance will invariably overshadow our knowledge, the universe
is too vast and too complex for it to be otherwise. But we shouldn't let
perfection be the enemy of good.

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angersock
Even better would be a cost analysis of what each of those visits ran the
patient.

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jstabbac
That would certainly be different, but by no means better.

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batista
_A Patient with Asthma Seeks Medical Advice in 1828, 1928, and 2012_

Seems like his asthma didn't prevent him for living for almost two centuries!

