Hospice Program Eases Breathing for Mesothelioma Patients

Dr. Michael Shapiro has developed a program that should make breathing easier for a patient with malignant pleural mesothelioma. He equates his breathing program to teaching an elite athlete how to better utilize his lung capacity by using similar concepts that assist people struggling with serious respiratory issues in hospice care. “We’re not reinventing the wheel, by any stretch of the imagination,” Shapiro told Asbestos.com. “But there are ways to teach people, at all levels, to breath more efficiently. Our goal is to help provide a better quality of life for a patient.” Shapiro is the chief medical officer at Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care in Central Florida. His novel Dyspnea Self-Management Program (DSMP) is now in its second year of showing impressive effectiveness. He presented his DSMP at the National Partnership for Hospice Innovation Medical Affairs Forum in Phoenix last week. Avoiding Anxiety and Emergency Rooms DSMP is a nonpharmacologic management protocol that helps patients avoid the need for additional medication, severe anxiety and rushed trips to the emergency room when simple breathing becomes overly strained. His program is especially relevant for the treatment of pleural mesothelioma, the rare and aggressive cancer that starts in the thin membrane surrounding the lungs and is marked by tumors and inflammation that restrict the normal breathing process. As the disease progresses, breathing becomes more arduous. Even mild physical act...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: breathing exercises for mesothelioma dr. michael shapiro hospice care for mesothelioma mesothelioma treatment Source Type: news