Respiratory disease in practice - 2016


Comment: ‘Chest infections’ and antibiotics – a soapbox
Philip W Ind
pp 19-19
'Chest infection’ as a term has become ubiquitous. It is easy to see why it is preferred to the unwieldy lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), yet the latter is at least more precise. This issue draws attention to recent guidelines comparing advice on the treatment of pneumonia (see page 31).
Diagnosing tuberculosis: old and new approaches
Saranya Sridhar
pp 20-24
An estimated global burden of 9.6 million cases and over 1.4 million deaths in 2014 reaffirmed the infamous status of tuberculosis (TB) as a major global health challenge.
CHART and non-conventionally fractionated radiotherapy in the management of non-small cell lung cancer
Prashanth Sanganalmath, Emma Bates & Matthew QF Hatton
pp 26-30
Lung cancer is a significant global health problem, with an estimated 1.8 million new cases and 1.59 million deaths worldwide each year, representing 13% of all new cancer diagnoses and 19.4% cancer-associated deaths. The five-year overall survival rate in the UK in 2010–11 was 8.4% for men and 11.6% for women.
Pneumonia in adults
Gary Paterson
pp 31-35
There are several guidelines in the UK for the treatment of pneumonia in adults. These include the 2008 British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC) guidelines for the management of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) in the UK, the 2009 British Thoracic Society (BTS) guidelines for the management of community ac- quired pneumonia (CAP) in adults, and the more recent National Institute for Health and Care Ex- cellence (NICE) guideline; Pneumonia in adults: diagnosis and management. NICE also produced a Quality Standard and online pathway tool in 2016, amalgamating all NICE-produced topics covering pneumonia.
How Asthma UK is using social media to support self-management
Colette Harris
pp 35-35
It won’t surprise you to hear that many of the 5.4 million people in the UK with asthma use social media to swap tips, ideas and complaints. Although peer advice can be really valuable, it’s not always helpful or based on good- quality evidence. Asthma UK’s Health Advice team is working with these online communities to share asthma advice and reinforce good self-management habits – like encouraging good communication with healthcare professionals and attending asthma reviews.