How Do You Prepare for a Quit Date? The Week Before a Smoking Cessation Program Starts
To prepare for a quit date, most guidelines suggest choosing a day within the next two weeks, telling people who can support you, listing…
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Blog Category
Lung Health
Articles on lung health: persistent cough, breathlessness, asthma, COPD and how lung tests work. Coughing blood or sudden breathlessness needs urgent assessment.
Traveling With COPD: Flights, Altitude and Planning Oxygen for Long Journeys
Most people with stable COPD can travel, including by air, when the trip is planned with their care team. Cabin pressure on commercial flights…
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Recovery After Robotic Lung Surgery Week by Week: Chest Drain Removal, First Walks and Work
Robotic lung surgery recovery time typically runs a few days in hospital, with the chest drain often removed once any air leak has sealed…
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Preparing for Robotic Lung Surgery: Breathing Tests, Heart Checks and Stopping Smoking Early
Preparing for robotic lung surgery usually means several weeks of assessment and conditioning before the operation. Breathing tests such as spirometry and a gas…
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What Does Lung Infection Recovery Look Like? The First Two Weeks of Treatment
Lung infection recovery time is measured in weeks, not days. With appropriate treatment, fever from pneumonia usually settles within about a week, chest pain…
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Why Is Lung Infection Treatment Planned Differently for Older Adults?
Lung infection treatment is planned differently for older adults because aging changes how infections present, how the body clears them, and how medicines behave.…
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When Does a Lung Infection Need Hospital Care? Oxygen Levels and Other Signals Doctors Use
A lung infection usually needs hospital care when the body can no longer keep up on its own: a blood oxygen reading that stays…
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What Can a Bronchoscopy Find That a Chest CT Cannot? Washings, Brushings and Biopsies
A bronchoscopy detects things a chest CT can only suggest: it shows the inside surface of the airways directly and collects samples. Washings and…
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Who Is a Candidate for Robotic Lung Surgery? Tumor Size, Lung Function and Heart Health
Robotic lung surgery candidates are usually people with an early-stage lung tumor that has not spread beyond nearby lymph nodes, enough breathing reserve on…
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What Is an Asthma Action Plan and How Does Your Doctor Build One With You?
An asthma action plan is a written, personalized set of instructions that you and your clinician create together during a visit. It uses color-coded…
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How Is Asthma Diagnosed in Adults? Spirometry, Allergy Testing and What the Results Mean
Adult asthma is diagnosed by combining a detailed history of variable breathing symptoms with objective lung tests. Spirometry measures how much and how fast…
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Living With Chronic Bronchitis: Cold Air, Dust, Smoke and Protecting Your Airways
Living with chronic bronchitis means managing a long-term, mucus-producing cough by protecting inflamed airways from cold air, dust and smoke, staying current with vaccines,…
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Acute Bronchitis: When a Lingering Cough Needs a Doctor’s Visit and When Rest Is Enough
Most acute bronchitis is viral and settles on its own within about three weeks, so rest, fluids and time are usually enough. See a…
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Living With Emphysema: Exercise, Nutrition and Avoiding Infections in Daily Life
Living with emphysema means slowing further lung damage and protecting the breathing you have. The steps with the strongest evidence are stopping smoking completely,…
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Asbestosis vs Mesothelioma: How Doctors Tell Scarring From Cancer After Asbestos Exposure
Asbestosis and mesothelioma are different diseases with the same cause. Asbestosis is non-cancerous scarring of lung tissue that stiffens the lungs and slowly reduces…
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When Is a Bronchiectasis Flare-Up an Emergency? How Exacerbations Are Treated
A bronchiectasis flare-up, also called an exacerbation, is usually treated with a longer-than-usual antibiotic course, guidelines typically advising 14 days, plus more intensive airway…
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Airway Clearance for Bronchiectasis: What a Physiotherapy Session Actually Involves
Airway clearance for bronchiectasis is a set of breathing techniques, positions and sometimes handheld devices that help loosen and cough up mucus from permanently…
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Life After a Pneumothorax: Diving, Altitude, Exercise and the Activities to Clear First
Diving after a pneumothorax is usually advised against, because trapped gas expands as a diver ascends and a second collapse underwater can be life-threatening;…
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