What does exacerbation mean in medical terms?

Exacerbation: A worsening. In medicine, exacerbation may refer to an increase in the severity of a disease or its signs and symptoms. For example, an exacerbation of asthma might occur as a serious effect of air pollution, leading to shortness of breath.

What is another word for exacerbation?

In this page you can discover 19 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for exacerbation, like: worsening, exasperation, increasing, heightening, aggravation, acute-disease, annoyance, hypoglycaemia, eosinophilia, neutropenia and angina-pectoris.

What is the difference between exacerbation and remission?

You might notice new symptoms or the return of old symptoms. Relapses are different with every person and they vary in length, severity, and symptoms but should improve over time. When an exacerbation ends it would then be in a period of remission.

How do you use exacerbation in a sentence?

Exacerbation in a Sentence

1. Exacerbation of the illness caused the patient to become sicker and sicker as each day passed. 2. Discussing politics at the dinner table only contributed to the ever-increasing exacerbation of family tension.

What causes exacerbation?

What causes an exacerbation? The most common cause of an exacerbation is infection in the lungs or airways (breathing tubes). This infection is often from a virus, but it may also be caused by bacteria or less common types of organisms.

How long does it take to recover from an exacerbation?

1) Recovering from an exacerbation

Each person is different and you may take weeks rather than days to feel back to your usual self again. Your legs may feel weaker because you have being doing less and also because you may have been on steroids.

Can you exacerbate a person?

Exacerbate means to make something more violent, bitter or severe. Exasperate means to irritate someone or cause them to get annoyed. While exasperating someone can certainly exacerbate a negative situation, the words are slightly different.

What is the difference between exasperated and exacerbate?

Exasperate is today most commonly used as a synonym of annoy, but for several hundred years it also had the meanings “to make more grievous” and “to make harsh or harsher.” Exacerbate is now the more common choice of these two words when one seeks to indicate that something is becoming increasingly bitter, violent, or …

What does acute exacerbation mean?

Based on the current guidelines, an acute exacerbation is defined as an acute and transient worsening of preexisting symptoms in patients with CRS [7, 8]. However, there is no consensus definition of how to quantify AE due to multifactorial etiologies and inconsistency in endpoint reporting.

What is exacerbation of asthma?

Overview. During an asthma attack, also called an asthma exacerbation, the airways become swollen and inflamed. The muscles around the airways contract and the airways produce extra mucus, causing the breathing (bronchial) tubes to narrow. During an attack, you may cough, wheeze and have trouble breathing.

What can cause COPD exacerbation?

Exacerbations are usually caused by a viral or bacterial lung infection, but they may also be triggered by things or situations that make it difficult for you to breathe, such as smoking or being exposed to smoke or air pollution. The signs of a COPD exacerbation go beyond your day-to-day COPD symptoms.

What does acute exacerbation of COPD mean?

Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) describe the phenomenon of sudden worsening in airway function and respiratory symptoms in patients with COPD. These exacerbations can range from self-limited diseases to episodes of florid respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation.

What are the two types of treatment that are used for exacerbations?

Treatments options for exacerbations include bronchodilators, corticosteroids, antibiotics, oxygen therapy, and ventilation.

How do you get rid of an asthma exacerbation?

Emergency treatment
  1. Short-acting beta agonists, such as albuterol. These are the same medications as those in your quick-acting (rescue) inhaler. …
  2. Oral corticosteroids. …
  3. Ipratropium (Atrovent HFA). …
  4. Intubation, mechanical ventilation and oxygen.

What are signs of asthma exacerbation?

The signs and symptoms of an acute exacerbation or attack of asthma include:
  • agitation.
  • hyperventilation.
  • increased heart rate.
  • decreased lung function.
  • difficulty speaking or breathing.

What happens during an exacerbation?

You may hear your doctor or nurse call this an “exacerbation.” Think of it as a flare-up. During one of these bouts, you may suddenly have more trouble breathing or make more noise when you do. These flare-ups are often linked to a lung infection caused by a virus or bacteria, such as a cold or some other illness.

Why do you not give oxygen to COPD patients?

Too much oxygen can be dangerous for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with (or at risk of) hypercapnia (partial pressure of carbon dioxide in arterial blood greater than 45 mm Hg). Despite existing guidelines and known risk, patients with hypercapnia are often overoxygenated.

How long do you live with COPD?

Many people will live into their 70s, 80s, or 90s with COPD.” But that’s more likely, he says, if your case is mild and you don’t have other health problems like heart disease or diabetes. Some people die earlier as a result of complications like pneumonia or respiratory failure.

Will a COPD exacerbation go away on its own?

Warning Signs of a COPD Flare-up

Signs and symptoms of a COPD flare-up last 2 days or more and are more intense than your usual symptoms. The symptoms get worse and just don’t go away. If you have a full-blown exacerbation, you may need to go to the hospital.

How serious is COPD exacerbation?

Exacerbations can be severe and life threatening. At the first sign of symptoms, a person should seek immediate medical care. Depending on the severity and cause, people experiencing a COPD exacerbation will often need to stay in the hospital.

How long does exacerbation of COPD last?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations may last for two days or even two weeks, depending on the severity of the symptoms. Sometimes, COPD exacerbations may require antibiotics, oral corticosteroids and hospitalization.