Speech Therapist

A speech therapist is a specialist with training in the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of speech, voice, and language disorders who works with people, unable to make speech sounds or cannot make them clearly.They also work with people who stutter, have fluency and rhythm problems, inappropriate pitch, or harsh voice and speech quality problems. The most widespread and obvious speech disorder is stuttering, often caused by anxiety.Other disorders may result from hearing loss, stroke, cerebral palsy, mental disability, or brain injury. 

Because speech disorders are usually related to neurological, psychological, and physical conditions, speech therapists must be able to work as a member of a team which may include other healthcare specialists such as a neurologist and psychiatrist. Speech language pathologists may work in a variety of settings; therefore this is a career choice that provides many employment options. In addition to medical offices, hospitals, and clinics, speech language pathologists may also work in schools, long-term care facilities, state or local health departments or government agencies, rehabilitation centers or home health agencies. A strong liberal arts foundation is a great option for an undergraduate major. Coursework in linguistics, behavioral science, anatomy, psychology, and math and general science are recommended. 

A speech therapist's salary varies and depends on employer, experience and other such factors. However, the average speech therapist salary in the US is around $66,920, with an average hourly wage of $32.17. These numbers can go up or down but tend to go no lower than $23.55.


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Respiratory Therapist

Respiratory Care is specifically focused on the prevention, assessment, treatment, management, control, diagnostic evaluation, education, and care of patients with deficiencies and abnormalities of the cardiopulmonary system. (For clarification, the cardiopulmonary system has to do with the lungs and the heart). Because Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the 4th leading killer of adults, people with asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema need respiratory therapy. 

However, other people who have had heart attacks, suffered trauma, are born prematurely, or have sleep disorders might also need respiratory therapy to help them breathe easier.


At a minimum, respiratory therapists need an associate degree, but the field’s elite also have a bachelor’s degree.The next step in training is obtaining a license and certification. There are two certification levels that most RTs seek: Certified Respiratory Therapist (known as CRT), which indicates your mastery of essential knowledge, skills and abilities as an entry-level therapist, and the Registered Respiratory Therapist certification, or RRT. An RRT credential signifies a more advanced level of knowledge.

Employment of respiratory therapists is expected to increase faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2020. It is listed among the fastest growing occupations that require only an associate degree.  The median annual wage for respiratory therapists was $55,870 in May 2012. 











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Asthma: An Inside Look into a Respiration Problem

Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways that makes breathing difficult. With asthma, there is inflammation of the air passages that results in a temporary narrowing of the airways that carry oxygen to the lungs. The major giveaway of asthma is wheezing, shortness of breath, coughing, and pressure on the chest cavity. Asthma is an incurable illness. However, with good treatment and management there is no reason why a person with asthma cannot live a normal and active life.





Asthma medicines come in two types—quick-relief and long-term control. Quick-relief medicines control the symptoms of an asthma attack. Long-term control medicines help you have fewer and milder attacks, but they don’t help you while you are having an asthma attack.

As an asthma sufferer myself, one who does not necessarily follow the precautions quite honestly, having asthma is a serious thing but not impossible to live with. I began with bronchitis in the fall of 2010, and because I didn't take care of myself properly, it turned into pneumonia. Having pneumonia for a couple of weeks was pretty terrible and I had to miss my entire marching season because of it. Just when I thought I had gotten better, I kept on wheezing and then became short of breath really quickly. When we went to the doctor's, they told us my pneumonia affected my lungs and the outcome became a minor asthma.

So whenever I feel short of breath, I tend to use my inhaler. What I still do not understand is how that is possible and why, in about two years, my asthma inhaler hasn't been used. I feel short of breath sometimes, but not to the point where I need my inhaler anymore. Either way, asthma can be dangerous but not impossible to live with. 








Sources:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/asthma/
http://www.webmd.com/asthma/
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/asthma/

Heart Murmurs

Physiology:

• Split S2 - it sounds like a normal heart beat with a sort of solid drum beat and can be heard clearly. The difference is there is no second beat heard and this is caused by respiration. 
• Venous - the audio appears to sound like slow beats like that from a horse's hooves. There is a raspy sound in the background as well and is caused by turbulence in the jugular veins, usually found in children due to narrow veins under the collarbone.

Systolic:

• Pulmonary Stenosis - there is an obvious raspy sound with the heart beat, almost sounding like a suction cup or the noise you hear when you get water in your ears. Possibly there is some fluid caught inside the lungs and surrounding areas.
• Late Aortic Stenosis - has a sort of suction cup effect or even sounds like a force pump of something. This is caused when the aortic valve becomes more narrow and the left ventricle has to increase pressure to pump blood out through the valve.

Diastolic: 

• Aortic Regurgitation - reminds me of a techno song beat or a ball bouncing on industrial aluminum sheets. It is clear enough to hear but obviously not the best heart murmur to have. This murmur is produced as the blood flows retrograde back into the left ventricle.
• Mitral Stenosis - there is a crackling sound in between beats and while it may just be the audio, if it isn't then that sure isn't good. There also seems to be a delay in the beats. The main cause of mitral stenosis is an infection called rheumatic fever, which is related to strep infections.   

Rubs, Gallops and Continuous:

• Friction Rubs - sounds very murky and like a wave hitting the shore. This is caused by the beating of the heart against an inflamed pericardium or lung pleura 
• Patent Ductus Arteriosis - reminds me of what you hear when you go underwater in a pool. Sounds murky with every beat as well. The cause of patent ductus arteriosus isn't known.Genetics may play a role in causing the condition. A defect in one or more genes might prevent the ductus arteriosus from closing after birth. 

 Lungs:

• Normal - sounds like a normal beat except with a bit of a trill at the end each time. There may be some fluid inside, but otherwise sounds like breathing and heartbeats. 
• Wheezing - sounds like a stomach growling, or like a balloon deflating. The person must have a hard time breathing with some fluid inside their lungs. This could be from bronchitis or even pneumonia.

Ch. 6 Muscle Song

(To the tune of "Do You Know the Muffin Man?")



Do you know body movements, body movements, body movements?
Do you know body movements like flexion at the knee?




 


Do you know a facial muscle, facial muscle, facial muscle?
Do you know a facial muscle like zygomaticus?








Did you learn muscle tissues, muscle tissues, muscle tissues?
Did you learn muscle tissues like smooth and cardiac?















Do you know a trunk muscle, trunk muscle, trunk muscle?
Do you know a trunk muscle like Pectoralis Major?