Until workers can be effectively protected from the dusts, gases, and vapors that cause occupational lung diseases, clinicians must focus on careful history taking, precise diagnosis, and prompt therapy to relieve or reduce respiratory disability.

In the developed countries, where high prevalences of lung disease existed in the past, reductions in dust levels brought about by regulation have led to substantial drops in disease prevalence since the 1970s. In addition, major reductions in the mining work force in most of those countries over recent decades, partly brought about by changes in technology and resulting improvements in product...

Patients presenting with symptoms related to the respiratory system can be challenging to the physician as a number of diseases can overlap in the semiology. For instance, asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, interstitial lung disease and inflammatory lung disease can all present with dyspnea. The main differentiating factors between these disorders are the epidemiological and demographic ...

Increasing awareness of the role of intestinal commensal bacteria in the development and modulation of the immune system has led to great interest in the therapeutic potential of probiotics and other bacteria-based strategies for a range of immune-related disorders. Studies in animal models have identified strong immunomodulatory effects of many nonpathogenic bacteria and provided evidence that...

Tight junctions are the most apically localized part of the epithelial junctional complex. They regulate the permeability and polarity of cell layers and create compartments in cell membranes. Claudins are structural molecules of tight junctions. There are 27 claudins known, and expression of different claudins is responsible for changes in the electrolyte and solute permeability in cells layer...

■ ■ Work-related Asthma: Asthma may be caused or made worse by work. People with work-related asthma often have more symptoms at work and improve away from work (on weekends and vacations). Many different exposures at work can cause occupational asthma. In addition, people who already have asthma may have work-exacerbated asthma due to asthma triggers at work, such as irritants, allergens, and ...

Protozoa and helminthes can affect the lung as a primary site, or a complication. Some parasites have a migration cycle through the lung (larva migrans), inducing blood and tissue eosinophilia. Clinical manifestations of lung involvement could be acute: asthma –like syndrome, or Loeffler’s syndrome, with dyspnea, wheezing, cough; or chronic such as hemoptysis or right heart failure signs. Acute...