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Carpal Tunnel
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Everybody gets short of breath when they exercise vigorously. But when severe shortness of breath occurs with only mild exertion, it has to be investigated. And of course, shortness of breath at rest requires treatment. Dyspnea just means shortness of breath, but it is a medical word ordinarily used to indicate there is an abnormal condition.
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Carpal Tunnel
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And when dyspnea worsens, it would lead into agonal breathing eventually, right, Bill?
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Carpal Tunnel
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The last quack of the duck. Sometimes after an extended period of apnea (no breathing) there is one last gasp that is the brain center saying "I quit."
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Carpal Tunnel
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Now I'm really confused!!!!
Dyspnea...>Agonal Breathing....>Apnea.....>Last Quack......Dead Duck???
Can I pass the med exam now, Bill?
Best regards,
Wordwinded
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enthusiast
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For all you medical people out there: would "short of breath" be abbreviated, in medical records, in the manner I casually suspect?  "Patient was SOB"
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Shortness of breath is usually abbreviated to SoB - note the lower case 'o'. Generally, a patient will complain of being "short of breath", but will be described by staff as being "dyspnoeic", but as Dr Bill says, they're pretty much the same thing. Breathless(ness) is used whenever it sounds better than short of breath. The main difference is that consultants use "dyspnoea" and the junior medical staff use SoB.
Oh, and I've never heard of agonal breathing.
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Carpal Tunnel
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I found five sites that mentioned "agonal breathing", but only one of them appeared worth quoting. In a Stanford University statement on handling of dying medical experiment animals, It used "agonal breathing" as a criterion of the moribund condition.
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At Vet School we were taught the term agonal breathing, and when animals are euthenased via barbiturate OD they often exhibit these agonal gasps. Very distressing for the owner to witness, so I always gently warned them that it may occur before doing the deed.
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Carpal Tunnel
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I found a baby squirrel after a wind storm. It looked like a little rat. I bought a doll's baby bottle, filled it with some kind of liquid nutrition, and tried to nurse the tiny squirrel back to health. But I hadn't been trained in taking care of wild animals, and such training would have probably saved the little squirrel.
But, Lord, I bonded with that tiny creature. Kept it going for two days. My mistake was I aspirated its lungs unknowingly. On the morning it died, I noticed it was breathing in tiny, strong, abbreviated gasps.
I called my school, left a message I'd be late, and rushed the squirrel over to the emergency vet downtown Richmond. 6:30 in the morning. The vet took it from its basket, examined it, and said, "This little squirrel is in agonal breathing." "What does that mean?" I asked. "It means the little squirrel is trying to die. You can either let it die trying to breathe, or I can put it down." Well, that was my little baby and I didn't want it to suffer, so I asked her to put it down. $79 for an emergency shot of permanent slumber.
My Uncle John, upon hearing the tale, said, "I would have drowned it before I spent 79 dollars!"
Only a mother would understand. (Yeah, guys can be mothers, too. I know...I know.)
Beast regards,
WW
PS: So, agonal breathing is a term used just for the beasts?
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