Asthma

In asthma, the airways become hyperresponsive to triggers. When exposed to a trigger, three major things happen: Bronchoconstriction: airway smooth muscle tightens. Inflammation/edema: airway lining swells. Mucus production: thick secretions narrow the airway further. This causes wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, dyspnea, prolonged expiration, tachypnea, and increased work of breathing. A severe attack may progress to fatigue, poor air movement, hypoxemia, altered level of consciousness, and respiratory failure. For REx-PN (Canada), items rarely announce the topic in the first sentence. Anchor to objective data, trajectory, and the safest next step for the role named in the stem before distractors compete. On the exam, writers often pair stable-sounding options with unstable data—notice the mismatch before you commit. If the stem names a license or role, reread that line; scope errors are classic trap answers even when the clinical topic is familiar. Run a 60-second scan: breathing work and oxygenation, perfusion and end organs, neuro baseline, likely infection sources, and devices that can fail quietly. When two answers feel partly right, pick the one that reduces imminent harm and matches orders for the...