Pulmonology and Respiratory Medicine

For the entire body to function, the respiratory system is very important. Pulmonology deals with all kinds of diseases that relates to the heart. In today’s situation, doing clinical research and basic research of the respiratory organs beginning from epithelium of respiration to the highly effective pulmonary hypertension treatment has become highly essential. There are a number of scientific researches happening that identifies causes and provides the possible kinds of treatments of ailments like lung cancer and pulmonary tuberculosis. Advance methods of treatment in pulmonary research has played major role towards the building of a safe plus healthy society.

Pulmonology is also known as pneumology, a medical specialty that deals with respiratory tract diseases, also known as respirology, chest medicine, respiratory medicine. Pulmonology is regarded as a special branch of internal medicine, related to medicine within intensive care. Pulmonology usually involves patients in need of mechanical ventilation and life support. Pulmonologists and respiratory medicine experts treat conditions of chest, specifically pneumonia, tuberculosis, emphysema, asthma, and other complex chest symptoms.

Relevance of pulmonology with other fields in medicine

Surgery of a human’s respiratory tract is conducted by the thoracic or cardiothoracic surgeon specialists, even though minor procedures could be done by pulmonologists. Patients who require mechanical ventilation are taken care of by pulmonologists. There are several fellowship programs that enable physicians to get pulmonary board certified also critical care medicine. Interventional pulmonology happens to be a relatively new field in the pulmonary medicine that deals with using procedures similar to bronchoscopy. Also, pluroscopy would deal with various pulmonary diseases. Interventional pulmonology has been regularly recognized as one of the specific specialty in medicine.

Diagnosis of pulmonary or respiratory diseases

The general procedure of diagnosis focuses on hereditary diseases like cystic fibrosis and alpha 1-antitryspin defects. These are diseases that affect the lungs. Exposing the body to toxicants like tobacco, fumes of asbestos, exhaust, coal mine, and e-cigarette causes respiratory or pulmonary diseases. Exposure to certain kinds of birds, processing malt also leads to this kind of disease. Physical diagnostics are just as vital as other verticals of medicine. Inspecting the hands to identify clubbing or cyanosis signs, respiratory rate signs, and chest wall are essential. Palpation within the trachea, movement of the chest wall and cervical lymph nodes are all treated under the fraternity of pulmonary and respiratory medicine. Percussion in the lung fields to identify dullness or even hyper-resonance. Identifying with a stethoscope if there are unusual or diminishing breathing sounds. As there are several heart diseases that can give signs of pulmonary diseases, a proper cardiac investigation has to be included soon.

Clinical procedures:

The following procedures or pulmonary tests are included within the clinical tests and treatments:

Blood tests and lab investigation, with measurements of arterial blood gas are also required at times.

Spirometry – a process through which maximum airflow is determined at a given volume of lung as measured through breathing into a machine specially dedicated for it. This method is key test in diagnosing obstruction of airflow.

Pulmonary tests that include spirometry, response to bronchodilators, diffusion capacity, and lung volumes.

Bronchoalveolar lavage or BAL with Bronchoscopy, along with endobronchial biopsy or transbronchial biopsy and epithelial brushing.

X-rays of the chest and CT scanning

Different methods in nuclear medicine and scintigraphy

Mainly in cases of lung cancer, the use of positron emission tomography.

Polysomnography or studying sleep to use for diagnosing sleep apnea.

Major procedures in surgery on the lungs and heart are performed by the thoracic surgeon. Pulmonologists are often performing special procedures to get samples of things inside the lung or chest. They have used radiographic techniques so that they can view lung vasculature and heart to help in diagnosis.