Pathophysiology of Asthma
Nancy Smith, a 35-year-old female, presents with an asthma exacerbation. She has had asthma since she was a child for which she was hospitalized several times. Her asthma was well controlled until the past couple of years. She has gone to urgent care a few times over the past year (most recently 4 months ago) and was given a prescription for an inhaled steroid (she never filled), albuterol inhaler, and oral steroids. She had eczema as a child and received allergy shots for many years. Her asthma symptoms flared again 2 weeks ago, and she has been using her albuterol 4 to 5 times a day. She reports that she is very short of breath when climbing stairs or when walking to the mailbox.

She has had productive nighttime coughing spells every day during the past week and has had to prop herself up on pillows to breathe. She indicates that she has had similar previous flares in the past. Patient Health Information Meds: Proair HFA, Claritin, Flonase prn. Pulse ox: 93% on RA Assessment Deliverable Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper that addresses the following: Discuss the pathophysiology of asthma including the 3 underlying components occurring in the bronchial mucosa. Explain how Nancy’s symptoms relate to each of the 3 underlying components of disease pathophysiology. Describe the risk factors for asthma including genetic/genomic, pharmacogenetic, and environmental exposure. From a pathophysiological perspective, analyze the concept of “atopy” and how it relates to asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. Describe the chronic pathophysiologic changes that occur in the respiratory system with uncontrolled asthma. Correlate these pathophysiologic changes to asthma morbidity and mortality