- With Mayo Clinic emeritus internist
Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Edward Rosenow, M.D.
Dr. Edward Rosenow III spent his entire professional career at Mayo Clinic, retiring after 31 years. He was born in Ohio and obtained his M.D. at Ohio State University. Prior to his retirement, he was the Arthur M. and Gladys D. Gray Professor of Medicine.
He has achieved numerous awards and honors, including the Mayo Fellows Hall of Fame of Outstanding Teachers, president of the Mayo staff, president of the American College of Chest Physicians, Distinguished Mayo Clinician Award, an honor lectureship in his name given each year at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, the Mayo Foundation Distinguished Alumnus Award, and most recently the Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D., Professorship in The Art of Medicine by the Bruce Clinton family. He recently received the Mayo Plummer Society Award for Excellence in Medicine.
"It has always been my feeling that the better informed the patient is about his or her body and its functions, the better the patient-physician partnership," he says. "The informed patient is in turn more compliant with the physician's recommendations and better able to make intelligent decisions about health care needs."
He was chairman of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. He is a Master Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Chest Physicians. He considers the Karis ("caring" in Greek) Award from Mayo Clinic as one of his most cherished awards, because he learned over the years that many times the gift of caring and compassion are more effective in healing than the powers of modern medicine. As a result of this award he wrote a book, "The Art of Living … The Art of Medicine," about how medicine should be practiced.
Dr. Rosenow has contributed to more than 170 publications, including over 30 book chapters, two books, two co-authored books and four amici curiae for the U.S. Supreme Court on tobacco legislation.
Definition (1)
- Barrel chest: What causes it?
Complications (1)
- Hyperinflated lungs: What does it mean?
Treatments and drugs (1)
- Spiriva side effects: How to relieve them?
Lifestyle and home remedies (1)
- Emphysema: Does cold weather make it worse?
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Question
Spiriva side effects: How to relieve them?
I use a Spiriva inhaler for COPD. It definitely helps my breathing, but it upsets my stomach and gives me a dry mouth. How can I deal with these Spiriva side effects?
Answer
from Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Dry mouth is among the most common side effects of tiotropium (Spiriva), an inhaled medication for relaxing and opening damaged airways in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Upset stomach is less common, but some people do report it. These side effects may bother you less as you get used to the medication.
Here are a few things you might try to keep your stomach settled.
- Use Spiriva exactly as directed, taking care to breathe out completely before you close your lips over the mouthpiece. Then breathe in slowly and deeply, through your mouth only, until your lungs are filled. If you don't inhale deeply enough, you'll swallow more medication than you take in through your lungs.
- Rinse your mouth with water right after using your Spiriva inhaler. Swish the water around, then spit — don't swallow. If you still taste the medication, rinse and spit again. This reduces the amount of medication reaching your stomach.
To relieve dry mouth, try:
- Chewing sugarless gum or sucking on sugarless hard candy
- Sipping water or another unsweetened drink
- Avoiding caffeine, alcohol and tobacco
- Avoiding spicy and salty food
COPD is a progressive loss of lung function due to chronic bronchitis and emphysema (em-fuh-SEE-muh). As COPD advances, you may have almost constant shortness of breath, along with episodes of severe breathing difficulty, known as exacerbations. Once-daily use of a Spiriva inhaler may improve your breathing and reduce the number of exacerbations you have.
If your Spiriva side effects are severe or persistent, ask your doctor about trying a different medication.
Next questionEmphysema: Does cold weather make it worse?
- Spiriva (prescribing information). Ridgefield, Conn.: Boehringer Inglelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., and New York, N.Y.: Pfizer Inc.; 2009. http://bidocs.boehringer-ingelheim.com/BIWebAccess/ViewServlet.ser?docBase=renetnt&folderPath=/Prescribing+Information/PIs/Spiriva/Spiriva.pdf. Accessed May 14, 2010.
- Dry mouth. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/OralHealth/Topics/DryMouth/DryMouth.htm. Accessed May 14, 2010.
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