A severe and prolonged attack of asthma.
This is a potentially life-threatening condition that requires urgent treatment.
Repeated attacks of ASTHMA, with no respite between the spasms, usually lasting for more than 24 hours. The patient is seriously distressed and, untreated, the condition may lead to death from respiratory failure and exhaustion. Continuous or very frequent use of nebulised bronchodilators, intravenous corticosteroid treatment, and other skilled medical care are urgently required.
a severe attack of asthma, which often follows a period of poorly controlled asthma. Patients are distressed and very breathless and may die from respiratory failure if not vigorously treated with inhaled oxygen, nebulized or intravenous bronchodilators, and corticosteroid therapy; sedatives are absolutely contraindicated. These patients need hospital care in an intensive care unit.
Repeated epileptic ?ts (see EPILEPSY) with no return to consciousness between them. Breathing stops between each ?t and the body is deprived of oxygen which causes damage to the brain. Urgent medical attention is required to control the condition, or the patient may suffer permanent brain damage.... status epilepticus
The state of health of an individual, group or population. It may be measured by obtaining proxies, such as people’s subjective assessments of their health; by one or more indicators of mortality and morbidity in the population, such as longevity; or by using the incidence or prevalence of major diseases (communicable, chronic or nutritional).... health status
a scoring system used to quantify a patient’s activity level and general wellbeing in order to assess the patient’s suitability for chemotherapy or for taking part in a clinical trial. Commonly used systems include the WHO performance scale, scoring from 0 (fully active, feeling well) to 4 or 5 (very ill or near to death), and the Karnofsky scale, scoring from 0 (very ill) to 100 (feeling well).... performance status
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