Sleep & Wellness Medical Associates specializes in the treatment of pulmonary diseases and related health issues.
Pulmonary Diseases
- Allergic Disorders
- Asthma
- Chronic Cough
- Shortness of Breath
- COPD
- Smoking Treatment
- Lung Cancer
- Pleurisy
- Interstitial Lung Disease
- Asbestosis
Allergic Disorders
We provide comprehensive care for patients suffering from a variety of allergic conditions, including allergic disorders of the eyes, nose, throat and sinuses, allergic skin disorders, disorders of the immune system, as well as asthma and other lung diseases.
- hay fever (allergic rhinitis) and non-allergic rhinitis
- rhinosinusitis
- asthma
- hives and angioedema (hives on the lips, eyelids, throat, and/or tongue)
- anaphylaxis
- food allergies and drug reactions
- hypersensitivity to stinging insects
- autoimmune and immunodeficiency disorders other than HIV
We perform a comprehensive panel of skin tests, provide counseling on avoidance of allergens and offer desensitization and immunotherapy (allergy shots) when indicated.
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Asthma
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways within the lungs, which can be brief or last for several days. This incurable disease results in narrowing of your airways and the muscles around them tightly, causing the glands within the airway walls to produce extra mucous, which blocks the airways further. Symptoms of asthma can be controlled though it changes over time. Therefore it is important to consult your doctor regularly and alter the treatments and medications accordingly.
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Chronic Cough
Chronic cough refers to the mysterious dry cough that doesn’t go away and is not regarded as a disease. This condition is generally considered to be a symptom of other disorders such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, sinus problems and esophageal reflex of stomach contents. Also there are few rare occasions in which aspiration of foreign objects into lungs would result in chronic coughs.
Shortness of Breath
Shortness of breath, also known as dyspnea is a feeling of difficulty in breathing or uncomfortable breathing which results in insufficient airflow for your daily respiration needs. Dyspnea is considered as a worrisome symptom of a range of sensitive or continual diseases and disorders.
Severity of this condition depends on the underlying causes including obstruction of the air passages, heart diseases, and emotional distress such as anxiety. Specific causes of shortness of breath include disorders such as lung disease, asthma, coronary heart disease, pneumonia, inhalation of foreign objects, allergies, obesity, compression of the chest wall, panic attacks and gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD).
COPD
COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, which is a chronic and obstructive disease of the lower respiratory tract in the lungs, making the lungs harder to breath. In Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease the airways that transfer air in and out of your lungs are partly obstructed, resulting in breathing difficulties.
There are two forms of the disease, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Common symptoms of the disease include shortness of breath, cough and increased mucus. Though the common cause of is smoking, long term inhalation of other irritants into the lungs would also result in COPD. This is identified as the fourth leading cause of death in United States affecting more than a million of population and resulting in 100,000 deaths annually.
Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program
Individualized smoking treatment includes:
A multidisciplinary approach to smoking cessation
• Medications to control cravings
• Counseling on tobacco dependence
• Specialized care for smokers who have relapsed or suffer from smoking-related disease
Lung Cancer
Being the leading cause of cancer death from cancer in United States, lung cancer is caused by uncontrolled division and growth of abnormal cells lining the airways and other lung regions. Lung is the main organ of the respiratory system that exchanges gases to and from the environment. Generally many other cancers of the body also migrate to the lung, like breast cancer and prostate cancer.
Smoking tobacco is the most important cause for developing lung cancer, which includes both active and passive smoking. Lung cancer is usually found in mature population and rare among small children. Two types of lung cancer are recognized, primary lung cancer which starts in the lungs and the secondary lung cancer which starts somewhere else and spreads to the lungs and infects.
Pleurisy
Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis is an inflammation of the pleural membrane that surrounds and protects the lungs. This condition generally arises from an existing respiratory infection or disease, such as pneumonia or viral infections.
There are two types of Pleurisy, dry pleurisy where the inflamed pleural membranes rub each other and wet pleurisy in which the fluid oozes from the membranes. Wet pleurisy may compress the lungs and result in difficulty in breathing.
Interstitial Lung Disease
Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a broad category of lung diseases characterized by scarring or fibrosis of the lungs. Most of these diseases have no known cause. Some of the known causes include occupational and environmental exposure (asbestos, silica, hard metal dusts, bacteria, animal proteins, gases, fumes), drugs (chemotherapeutic agents, antiarrhythmics, and antibiotics), radiation, residue of active infection of any type, connective tissue disease (systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, polymyositis/dermatomyositis) and sarcoidosis.
Asbestosis
Asbestosis (also known as asbestos exposure) refers to the lung fibrosis that is caused due to the inhalation of asbestos that causes scarring in the lungs and pleural membrane surrounding your lungs. Heavy exposure to asbestos would result in significant asbestosis within the lifespan of an individual.
People with asbestosis are subject to severe breathlessness, chest pains, general weakness and in severe cases have enlarged heart. Lung cancer has also been identified as an outcome of asbestos exposure, even at a lower level.