Want a Career in Health Care? Respiratory Therapy Might Be Your Best Bet

Careers in health care require a lot of hard work, but they are rewarding and provide job security. Health is a precious luxury that everyone wants to protect, so there is always a demand for knowledgeable health care professionals. Plus, you learn a lot about your own personal health and how to take proper care of your body.
If you’re not sure which area of health care to enter, you might want to consider respiratory therapy. This specific form of therapy is in high demand due to the abundance of patients who need individualized care. Here’s an overview of the field and what it takes to get your foot in the door as a professional respiratory therapist.

What Is Respiratory Therapy?

Respiratory therapy is administered to patients who suffer from both chronic and acute diseases such as bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, and cancer. Pulmonary physicians diagnose the patients then prescribe a therapy plan. Therapy methods vary based on the patients’ specific needs and can include the use of artificial airways, ventilators, and inhalant medications. Therapy programs can also involve disease management and healthy lifestyle guidance.
Professionals who administer respiratory therapy are responsible for monitoring symptoms, performing diagnostic tests, collaborating with physicians, administering treatment, and teaching patients how to use respiratory devices. Therapists typically work in hospitals or assisted living residences. They can also provide home services for patients with limited mobility or transportation and to help patients develop daily routines to support and mitigate chronic illnesses.

Are There Enough Jobs for Therapists?

The need for respiratory therapists is on the rise as the population of elderly individuals continuously increases. Elderly individuals are more susceptible to respiratory disease, which is one of the major causes of death in the U.S. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that about 8.7 million adults were diagnosed with chronic bronchitis and about 3.4 million adults were diagnosed with emphysema in 2014. There were also 147,101 deaths due to chronic lower respiratory disease in the same year.
As far as employment goes, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 120,700 employed respiratory therapists in 2014 and expects that number to increase by 12 percent through 2024. Health care facilities are in continuous need of respiratory professionals who can administer therapy for a variety pulmonary conditions.

Do Therapists Need a College Degree?

Though some health care facilities accept an associate’s degree, it is wise for an aspiring professional to earn a Bachelor of Science in respiratory therapy. A bachelor’s degree provides a well-rounded learning experience and addresses all the challenges facing graduates of a respiratory therapist school. Students also receive in-depth training on electronic records systems and study the importance of technology in the public health sector. In fact, the field of health information technology is a crucial component of individualized care and global public health, as summarized in this infographic about health IT.

Need More Information?

Check out the prerequisites for entering a program and evaluate whether it makes sense to go full or part time. If you have questions, call the admissions department about tuition, registration dates, and how to apply.

cervical cancer treatment

Treatment of cervical cancer has special steps not like any cancer nowadays, as it’s first and most important step is cervical cancer prevention , and then treatment of non- invasive cervical cancer which is called CIN treatment , and finally invasive cervical cancer treatment.

Follow up of these cases is not less important than treatment itself.

Cervical cancer prevention

There are multiple ways to prevent cervical cancer , the most important steps are screening by pap smear in all sexually active women and follow up that screening according to the new guide lines N.B : details n cervical cancer screening , also early detection and treatment of cervical infection with follow up of it can prevent cervical cancer , having protected sexual course also minimize the rate for sexual transmitted disease and so decrease risk for human papilloma virus infection , which is the main cause lead to cancer cervix .

Treatment of CIN( cervical intraepithial neoplasia , pre invasive cancer cervix)

According to the stages of that pre invasive cancer , the stage 1 only treated by treatment of cervical infection and then doing regularly follow up , stage 2 treated by ablation, ablation mean applying electricity(electrocautry),  laser , cryocautry( applying cold steam ) to the affected part of cervix  which in turn lead to complete destruction of that cervical part , that ablation is simple measure and can be done in outpatient clinic , But when the cervical lesion extend in higher cervix which make the ablation difficult to be done , in that matter conization is indicated , which mean that part of cervix will be removed , that operation is bloody and have several complication. Stage 3 treated according to the patient age , as in young ages, treatment like stage 2 , but in ld ages treatment is mainly total removal of female uterus.

Treatment of invasive cervical cancer

Treatment of invasive cervical cancer is mainly according to the staging of cancer as in

Stage 1a : when the cancer is micro invasive and can not seen except by microscope , in that case surgery is indicated and the surgery method is to remove the uterus by opening the abdomen as that operation allow the surgeon to asses if there any spread to the lymph node .

Stage 1b,2: Stage 1b mean that the cancer is still confined to cervix , but has bigger size , and stage 2 mean that the cancer start to spread locally to vagina and pelvis wall , the treatment in these stages are surgery or radiotherapy , the choice between one of them one of them is contraindicated or non available , in surgery ,there are removal of uterus , tubes and ovaries , upper one forth of the vagina and cervical lymph node and lastly cervical ligament called parametrium , that operation is one of major one and has several complication and contraindications. Radiotherapy in that stage has two types external radiotherapy in which the female patient take about 4000-5000 rad to control cancer from the skin , other type is internal radiotherapy ,in that type radiating material called radium inserted inside female cervix and it used mainly to control disease in cervix , however radiotherapy seem to be more simple than surgery it has several contraindication , such as pelvic infection , in some cases in radio resistant tumors , also in pregnant women and also in cases of  decreased white blood cells, prolapse and in recurrent cases , in these cases surgery is highly indicated. Some schools prefer to do both radiotherapy plus surgery especially in cases of large lesions when the spread is unexpected.

Stage 3 : In that stage radiotherapy is the treatment f choice , by any way external radiotherapy or internal radiotherapy.

Stage 4 a : That is mainly depend on the patient general health , as in good general health surgery is indicated in which uterus , tubes , ovaries, vagina and pelvic lymph nodes  are removed plus bladder or rectum or in some cases both are removed .

Stage 4b or in poor health status :  In these cases chemotherapy may be indicated , and palliative radiotherapy , also analgesics are given t reduce pain , and finally blood transfusion is indicated in severe bleeding .

Follow up of cervical cancer treatment

Following up treatment is not less in importance than cervical cancer treatment , as if there is no follow up , recurrence can occur and the disease start it’ cycle again , follow up is done clinically be going to your physician and he take completed history from you asking you about the main cervical symptoms and then doing her cervical examination , also screening by pap smear is very important , also he may take biopsy from you if that indicated .

Cervical cancer vaccine

Cancer CervixHuman papilloma virus (HPV) consider to be the main cause of cancer cervix ,  the cancer cervix vaccine developed mainly to  prevent  infection by human papilloma virus and it does not have any rule in prevention of cancer cervix nor prevention of other causes of cancer cervix.

Although cancer cervix vaccine developed to prevent HPV infection , it is only act against four strains of HPV which are HPV-16, HPV-11,HPV-6,and HPV-18 , as HPV-16,18 can result in cancer cervix by about 70% , and HPv-11,6 can result in about 90% of causing genital warts , which is predisposing finally to cancer cervix.

Gardasil is the first and the clinically approved vaccine , which is used now and the clinical trial say that is safe for females from age range 9 to 26 years old  , and that vaccine offer safety reaching up to 100% to both HPV 16-18 in females who does not exposed before to the virus , there are three doses of that vaccine , the first one start by a date your health provider prescribe to you and the next dose about one months from the first one and finally the last dose after 6 months from the second dose.

Gardasil vaccine does not show to have any effects in females who previously exposed to HPV , and it only used to prevent infection by HPV in females before they begin their sexual life , as after beginning sexual life there is no rule exclude that you do not expose to the virus,  and also it does not prevent cancer cervix and that mean taking the vaccine , does not exclude that you are not need for continous  cervical cancer screening .

Gardasil vaccine have side effects like fainting is the most common side effects and so any female should be seated about 15 minutes after she receive the vaccine , there are also other side effects like muscle pain after injection , headache and generalized malaise, but there is no serious side effects.

There are another type for HPV infection it is called Cervarix , which is currently developed in india , and it act only against HPV strains 16-18 and does not show to be effective against other strains , it has the Gardasil schedule which is zero dose , after one month , after six months , it also have minimal side effects like headache , muscle pain and fatigue , but cervarix is given to females from age range 10 – 45 years old.

Which is better Cervarix or Gardasil vaccine , this is the question , up to now there is no any clinical trials compared between both vaccine , and each one has effects and side effects.

But finally the vaccine make you safe against HPV infection which is the main cause that result in cancer cervix , and that is the point , the choice between them you have to consult your health provider to help you , to pick the most effective for you and remember each female is unique and females are not the same.

Escaping the Dangers of Deadly Toxins

The earth produces a number of different toxins and gases that are undetectable, yet very deadly. One of the deadliest is radon. Radon is a naturally occurring gas that can quickly invade your home or business without you knowing. You may expose yourself, your family, and your staff if you fail to take steps to determine if this gas is in your building at all. You can learn more about mitigation services and radon detection by going online today.

As noted, radon cannot be detected by any sense. You cannot see, smell, or taste it. You only know that it is in your home when you begin to suffer the ill health side effects of its exposure, which can include cancer or death. Further, unlike carbon monoxide no electrical or battery-operated detector has been invented for home or commercial use. People can only find out if radon is their homes by using specially designed kits or hiring professional radon detection services.

Because the kits come with an ample amount of user error, you could feel more secure by hiring professionals to come into your home or office to determine if radon is present in the interior. If they detect radon, they can then begin the remediation process to eliminate it and make your building safe again. In the meantime, you will be asked to leave your home or workplace until the all-clear is given. The process can take several hours or days, depending on how severe the radon exposure is in the building.

If no radon is detected at this time, that does not necessarily mean that your home or office is permanently out of the woods. You may decide to hire this service on a yearly basis to come out and inspect your property for traces of radon. This gas can permeate even the seemingly most secure of buildings. The fact that your building has thick walls and flooring does not mean that the gas will not find its way in at some point. You can make sure that the building stays free from radon permanently by hiring professional services to come in on a regular basis.

Radon can also be found in water. It permeates the plumbing fixtures in a home or office. The professionals that come to your location can inspect the water supply in your building as well for radon.