A 55-year-old man visits the clinic owing to sporadic chest tightness, coughing, and shortness of breath over the previous three months. The patient's childhood asthma improved around puberty, and he hasn't used steroids or inhalers since. He believes that his present symptoms and his previous asthma problems are related. The patient has no other ongoing medical illnesses; he was recently identified as having essential tremor, which has improved with medical treatment. He has never smoked and abstains from using alcohol or illegal substances. Pulse: 58 bpm; respirations: 16/ minute; blood pressure: 125/75 mm Hg. Upon physical inspection, there are scattered wheezes on both sides. There is no extremities edema, and heart sounds are normal. Most of this patient's symptoms have returned. This patient's symptom recurrence is most likely attributable to a medication that affects which of the following steps?

Question

A 55-year-old man visits the clinic owing to sporadic chest tightness, coughing, and shortness of breath over the previous three months. The patient's childhood asthma improved around puberty, and he hasn't used steroids or inhalers since. He believes that his present symptoms and his previous asthma problems are related. The patient has no other ongoing medical illnesses; he was recently identified as having essential tremor, which has improved with medical treatment. He has never smoked and abstains from using alcohol or illegal substances. Pulse: 58 bpm; respirations: 16/ minute; blood pressure: 125/75 mm Hg. Upon physical inspection, there are scattered wheezes on both sides. There is no extremities edema, and heart sounds are normal. Most of this patient's symptoms have returned. This patient's symptom recurrence is most likely attributable to a medication that affects which of the following steps?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eductional Objective: treatment for tremor symptoms is propranolol, a nonselective beta blocker that works by preventing epinephrine and norepinephrine from interacting with beta-1 and beta-2 receptors. However, in individuals with underlying reactive airway disease, blockage of pulmonary beta-2 receptors can result in bronchoconstriction, which causes coughing, wheezing, and dyspnea.

A 55-Year-Old Man Visits the Clinic Owing to Sporadic Chest