The use of complementary atlternative medicine (CAM) - Research Paper Example

COPD CAM Mr. Cohen is a 75 year old Jewish American with emphysema chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. He was admitted for difficulty breathing. Here, we discuss and explore the use of complimentary alternative medicine (CAM) therapies with Mr. Cohen. As we discuss the case study medications and CAM interactions, we include the purpose of each CAM, its therapeutic affects, and negative side effects. The three main measures we use to determine the dependent variables of our observation are Mr.

Cohen's self-report, the sounds of his breathing, and his oxygen saturation. We hope to formulate some way of increasing his oxygen saturation by two percentage points.What we have seen with Mr. Cohen is his oxygen saturation varies with torso position, physical activity, and Albuterol treatments. In terms of torso position, Mr. Cohen tends to keep the head of bed up with helps keep fluid flow away from his solar plexus which helps him breath easier, but it cause lower back pain. Percocet helps relieve the pain.

Sometimes, Mr. Cohen leans over his bedside table to assist his breathing by increasing pressure on his solar plexus region to augment pulmonary diffusion of oxygen. When he does this his lungs sounds clear but diminished on both sides. His oxygen saturation is 92% immediately following this behavior.Although physical activity tends to lower his oxygen saturation, it is necessary to assist the body in exchanging carbon dioxide and oxygen over the capillaries. A 60 foot walk to the nurses' station decreased oxygen saturation to 86%, but a few deep breaths increased it to 91% in a matter of moments.

Likewise, the return 60 foot walk to his room decreased oxygen saturation to 87%, but a moment's rest increased it to 91%. Following the physical activity, Mr. Cohen took an Albuterol treatment to increase his oxygen saturation to 93%.Mr. Cohen is a 75 year old Jewish American with emphysema chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. He was admitted for difficulty breathing. Here, we discussed and explored the use of complimentary alternative medicine (CAM) therapies. As we discussed the case study medications and any herbal interactions, we include the purpose of each herbal, its therapeutic affects, common negative side effects, and drug to herbal interaction or herbal to food interactions.

Along with current treatments, we recommend a daily regiment of torso positioning (i.e. sitting up and leaning over bedside table) that seem to augment oxygen saturation in combination with Albuterol treatment both before and after at least twice daily walks to and from the nurses' station. The aim is to help Mr. Cohen's cardiopulmonary system exchange carbon dioxide and oxygen at the capillaries. If the regiment fails to increase overall oxygen saturation by two percentage points throughout the day, at least his body would have the benefit of increased cardiopulmonary function for a time twice a day or more daily.

Although we may not necessarily heal Mr. Cohen's condition, we could potentially manage it sufficiently to increase his comfort and quality of life to some extent with the appropriate combination of pharmaceuticals and CAM.ReferenceAnker, G. (2007). Clinical Decision Making: Case Studies on Medical-Surgical Nursing. United States of America. Thomson-Delmar Learning.