Respiratory Disease

Respiratory disease is the second most common cause of death worldwide. Patients with advanced non-malignant disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, have similar or even greater health care needs than those with advanced lung cancer. Uncontrolled symptoms, distress, and social isolation contribute to the poor quality of life experienced by such patients.

This book provides practical guidance to professionals who care for patients with advanced respiratory disease. It gives evidence-based advice on a wide range of topics, including management of respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms, chronic respiratory failure, and respiratory emergencies. Recognition of when a patient may be approaching the end of life can be particularly challenging in patients with advanced respiratory disease. Ways to facilitate prognostication are covered, along with the significant communication and ethical challenges that this phase of life can present.

Written by a respiratory specialist and two palliative medicine physicians, this book will be of great value to doctors, nurses, and allied healthcare professionals working in respiratory medicine and in palliative care, both in relation to everyday clinical practice as well as meeting the requirements for postgraduate exams.

Anna Spathis qualified from Cambridge in 1992 and is currently a Consultant in Palliative Medicine, at Helen and Douglas House in Oxford.

Dr Sara Booth has developed an innovative multiprofessional Breathlessness Intervention Service (BIS) from her research work in this area. It is based at Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and sees patients with any diagnosis at home or in hospital. She is also chair of the NCRI breathlessness research sub-group of the NCRI palliative care group. The research associated with BIS has been widely presented.

Helen E Davies qualified from St George's, University of London, and is a Specialist Registrar in Respiratory and General Medicine in Oxford. Her clinical and research interests include the management and palliation of symptoms in patients with malignant pleural disease.