Bronchial hyperresponsiveness
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Overview
Bronchial hyperresponsiveness (or other combinations with airway or hyperreactivity) is a state characterised by easily triggered bronchospasm (contraction of the bronchioles or small airways).
Bronchial hyperresponsiveness can be assessed with a bronchial challenge test. This most often uses products like metacholine or histamine. These chemicals trigger bronchospasm in normal individuals as well, but people with bronchial hyperresponsiveness have a lower threshold.
Bronchial hyperresponsiveness is a hallmark of asthma but also occurs frequently in people suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).[1] In the Lung Heart Study, bronchial hyperresponsiveness was present in approximately two-thirds of patients with non-severe COPD, and this predicted lung function decline independently of other factors.[2] In asthma it tends to be reversible with bronchodilator therapy, while this is not the case in COPD.
References
- ↑ Postma DS, Kerstjens HA (November 1998). "Characteristics of airway hyperresponsiveness in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease". Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 158 (5 Pt 3): S187–92. PMID 9817744.
- ↑ Tashkin DP, Altose MD, Connett JE, Kanner RE, Lee WW, Wise RA (June 1996). "Methacholine reactivity predicts changes in lung function over time in smokers with early chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Lung Health Study Research Group". Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 153 (6 Pt 1): 1802–11. PMID 8665038.
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Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
