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Palliative Management of Breathlessness

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Textbook of Palliative Care

Abstract

Breathlessness is pervasive in late stage disease both because of the disease itself, comorbidities, and cachexia. Given its high prevalence, it is sad that the options for symptomatic treatment (having optimized the management of underlying cause(s)) is so small. Careful assessment of potentially reversible causes contributing to breathlessness is paramount. Nonpharmacological interventions have a relatively strong evidence base as does regular, low dose, extended release oral morphine. There is a need for ongoing research into this pervasive and frightening symptom given the impact it has on patients, their caregivers, and health professionals.

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Disclosures

DCC – Consultancy to, and intellectual property payments from Mayne Pharma Pty Ltd; advisory board roles with Helsinn Pharmaceuticals and Specialist Therapeutics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IMPACCT – Improving Palliative Aged Care through Clinical Research and Translation, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia

    David Currow

  2. Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Hull, UK

    David Currow

  3. Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA, Australia

    Diana Ferreira

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  1. David Currow
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  2. Diana Ferreira
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Correspondence to David Currow .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine,Palliative Care, HammondCare, The University of Sydney School of Medicine, Sydney, Australia

    Roderick Duncan MacLeod

  2. VUB-UGhent End-of-Life Care Research Group, Department of Family Medicine and Chronic Care and Department of Clinical Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium

    Lieve Van den Block

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Currow, D., Ferreira, D. (2019). Palliative Management of Breathlessness. In: MacLeod, R., Van den Block, L. (eds) Textbook of Palliative Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77740-5_11

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