Helium was discovered in 1868 by the French astronomer Pierre-Jules-César Janssen and was first used as a therapeutic treatment for airway obstruction by Barach almost 70 years later, in 1934. Heliox is characterized by its low density, which makes it more fluid under conditions of turbulence, thus minimizing airway pressure and facilitating the occurrence of laminar flow. The present article d...

Christopher Schmehil1, Andrey Leonov1, Suzanne M Greydanus-Rutgers2 and Donald E Greydanus1* 1Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, Michigan 2Department of Labor and Delivery, Bronson Methodist Hospital, Kalamazoo, Michigan USA *Corresponding author: Donald E Greydanus, MD, Dr HC (ATHENS), 1Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine, Ka...

An abnormally low FEV 1 /FVC ratio is universally accepted as indicative of obstructive lung disease. Clearly, the choice of cutoff to defi ne abnormality is important. The GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) group set the lower limit of normal (LLN) at 0.7 irrespective of age, defi ning GOLD COPD stage I as FEV 1 /FVC below 0.7 and FEV 1 above 80% predicted. 1 In a re...

50 children were admitted on 72 occasions during one year in status asthmaticus, defined as wheezing not relieved by two doses of bronchodilator 4 hours apart. At least one-third of children were hypercapnoeic on admission. They were managed with either oral prednisolone and nebulised salbutamol. Those with peak expiratory flow rates of greater than 25% expected for height were satisfactorily m...