Cough and breathing health

• Can I talk to a doctor on Gotodoctor.ca about my cough and difficulty of breathing?

Yes, Gotodoctor.ca provides virtual care services for cough and difficulty of breathing. A doctor will take a comprehensive in-depth history and may provide you with prescriptions. Depending on the severity of symptoms further recommendations will be provided. If a patient is suffering from a severe cough and difficulty of breathing the doctor will direct him/her to clinic treatment.

• What is cough and difficulty of breathing?

Cough and difficulty of breathing arises from respiratory distress^[1]. High altitudes with low levels of oxygen, allergic reactions, anaphylaxis and interstitial lung diseases results in respiratory depression^[2]. Asthma, pneumothorax, pneumonia and anaemia are some of the underlying reasons behind cough and difficulty of breathing[3]. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancers should be excluded before initiating treatment^{[4, 5]}. If left untreated, it can result in pulmonary embolism, congestive heart failures and obstructions to airways^[6].

• What are the symptoms of cough and difficulty of breathing?

Cough and difficulty of breathing presents with discomfort in the chest, tightness, dry or productive cough with mucous production, which makes inhalation and exhalation difficult for the patient. Cough and difficulty of breathing can present simultaneously with fever if there is an underlying infection such as in tuberculosis^[7]. A doctor will be able to diagnose cough and difficulty of breathing at the clinic by identifying characteristic symptoms. Obstructive symptoms can be presented from a benign or malignant tumor in the thorax or chest cavity^{[8, 9]}.

• How is cough and difficulty of breathing treated?

A doctor decides on treatment after taking a comprehensive history of the patient. Treatment of cough and difficulty of breathing depends on the underlying cause and investigations such as chest x-rays and screening tests should be done to find out cause^[10]. First of all, life-threatening conditions are excluded by the doctor^[11]. Pain relief medications may be prescribed to make the patient free of pain from congestion^[10]. Prescriptions for beta-blockers may be provided to the patients suffering from airways constriction, and prescriptions for expectorants and decongestants drugs may be provided to clear mucus from airways through virtual care services^{[12] [13, 14]}.

• How can an online doctor on Gotodoctor.ca treat cough and difficulty of breathing?

An online doctor on Gotodoctor.ca treats cough and difficulty of breathing through virtual care services. An appointment can be easily made with an online doctor. Cough and difficulty of breathing can be treated via virtual care methods^{[8, 13-21]}. An online doctor will take a comprehensive history of your signs and symptoms and may provide you with prescriptions. Prescriptions can be obtained by online doctors. Virtual care services provided by Gotodoctor.ca assure comfort, convenience and a higher level of care for the patient.

References

1. Leidy, N.K., et al., The breathlessness, cough, and sputum scale: the development of empirically based guidelines for interpretation. Chest, 2003. 124(6): p. 2182-2191.
2. Smith, J. and A. Woodcock, Cough and its importance in COPD. International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 2006. 1(3): p. 305.
3. Bisgaard, H. and S. Szefler, Prevalence of asthma‐like symptoms in young children. Pediatric pulmonology, 2007. 42(8): p. 723-728.
4. Bredin, M., et al., PapersMulticentre randomised controlled trial of nursing intervention for breathlessness in patients with lung cancer. Bmj, 1999. 318(7188): p. 901.
5. DeVries, R., D. Kriebel, and S. Sama, Validation of the breathlessness, cough and sputum scale to predict COPD exacerbation. NPJ primary care respiratory medicine, 2016. 26(1): p. 1-3.
6. Leidy, N., et al., Evaluating symptoms in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: validation of the breathlessness, cough and sputum scale©. Respiratory medicine, 2003. 97: p. S59-S70.
7. Khajotia, R., Respiratory Clinics: Dry Cough with Progressively Increasing Breathlessness in a 65-Year Old Man. Malaysian family physician: the official journal of the Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia, 2009. 4(2-3): p. 103.
8. Eaton, L.H., et al., Development and implementation of a telehealth-enhanced intervention for pain and symptom management. Contemporary clinical trials, 2014. 38(2): p. 213-220.
9. Staub, G.M., J. von Overbeck, and E. Blozik, Teleconsultation in children with abdominal pain: a comparison of physician triage recommendations and an established paediatric telephone triage protocol. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 2013. 13: p. 110-110.
10. Davis, C.L., ABC of palliative care: Breathlessness, cough, and other respiratory problems. Bmj, 1997. 315(7113): p. 931-934.
11. Muers, M. and C. Round, Palliation of symptoms in non-small cell lung cancer: a study by the Yorkshire Regional Cancer Organisation Thoracic Group. Thorax, 1993. 48(4): p. 339-343.
12. Gregoriano, C., et al., Use and inhalation technique of inhaled medication in patients with asthma and COPD: data from a randomized controlled trial. Respiratory research, 2018. 19(1): p. 1-15.
13. Almathami, H.K.Y., K.T. Win, and E. Vlahu-Gjorgievska, Barriers and Facilitators That Influence Telemedicine-Based, Real-Time, Online Consultation at Patients’ Homes: Systematic Literature Review. J Med Internet Res, 2020. 22(2): p. e16407.
14. Deldar, K., K. Bahaadinbeigy, and S.M. Tara, Teleconsultation and Clinical Decision Making: a Systematic Review. Acta informatica medica : AIM : journal of the Society for Medical Informatics of Bosnia & Herzegovina : casopis Drustva za medicinsku informatiku BiH, 2016. 24(4): p. 286-292.
15. Gunasekeran, D.V., et al., Evaluating Safety and Efficacy of Follow-up for Patients With Abdominal Pain Using Video Consultation (SAVED Study): Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of medical Internet research, 2020. 22(6): p. e17417-e17417.
16. Myers, D.R., et al., Towards remote assessment and screening of acute abdominal pain using only a smartphone with native accelerometers. Scientific Reports, 2017. 7(1): p. 12750.
17. Staub, G., J. Overbeck, and E. Blozik, Teleconsultation in children with abdominal pain: A comparison of physician triage recommendations and an established paediatric telephone triage protocol. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 2013. 13: p. 110.
18. Bokolo Anthony, J., Use of Telemedicine and Virtual Care for Remote Treatment in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Medical Systems, 2020. 44(7): p. 132.
19. Wang, X., et al., Impact of Telemedicine on Healthcare Service System Considering Patients’ Choice. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, 2019. 2019: p. 7642176.
20. Williams, O.E., et al., The use of telemedicine to enhance secondary care: some lessons from the front line. Future healthcare journal, 2017. 4(2): p. 109-114.
21. Vaghef-Davari, F., et al., Approach to Acute Abdominal Pain: Practical Algorithms. Advanced journal of emergency medicine, 2019. 4(2): p. e29-e29.