Pulmonary Disease

Pulmonary Disease

Pulmonary problems affect your ability to breathe and can interfere with your quality of life. Suffering from wheezing, chest pain, shortness of breath, coughing, or other problems is one of the most frustrating health conditions in existence. Pulmonary Disease Specialists offers diagnoses and individualized treatment for pulmonary disorders and diseases that allow you return to a normal life.

Diagnosis Issues and Prescribing Treatment

Difficulty breathing normally can be a sign of a serious condition. Wheezing or a chronic cough might not seem serious, but they are symptoms of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Without treatment, these conditions can lead to serious health complications.

Pulmonary Disease Specialists administers non-invasive tests allowing us to diagnose the cause of your breathing challenges. We are able to determine if any permanent damage has occurred in your lungs and which of the various treatments available will benefit you most. Tests are usually performed onsite and help us evaluate your efficiency of breathing, your ability to inhale sufficient quantities of air, and the overall health of your lungs. In addition to onsite treatments, we also provide tips for managing your condition on an everyday basis, counseling, surgery referrals, pulmonary rehabilitation, and smoking cessation.

A visit to Central Florida Sleep Centers provides access to:

Experienced board certified sleep professionals

The staff at our sleep disorders clinic includes full-time board certified medical professionals. With fewer than 200 practitioners in this field throughout the country, you are assured access to the best professionals in the industry. The care you receive at Pulmonary Disease Specialists’ sleep disorders clinic is comprehensive and compassionate.

State-of-the-art technology and the latest in sleep disorder research

The field of sleep disorder research is more advanced than ever before. The field of behavioral sleep medicine provides access to several benefits to help you manage your sleep disorder, regardless of the cause.

What Pulmonary Conditions Do We Treat?

Acute respiratory distress syndrome is a reaction to various injuries or infections in the lungs. The syndrome can be triggered by indirect and direct issues. It causes inflammation in the lungs that eventually lead to impaired breathing, hypoxemia, and organ failure.

Autoimmune diseases occur when the body’s immune response to certain substances and tissues is inappropriate. Essentially the immune system attacks a natural part of the body as if it were a foreign invader.

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the airways responsible for carrying air from the trachea to the lungs.

Bronchiectasis is a disease that includes a localized, irreversible dilation in the bronchial tree. It is caused by damage to the muscle and elastic tissue in the area.

Comprehensive mind-body approach to treatment of sleep disorders

Diagnosing a sleep disorder can be a difficult process. Sleep disorder symptoms mimic other diseases and vice versa. Sleep disorders can also co-exist with various diseases. In order to properly treat a sleep disorder, a careful, thorough diagnosis is essential.

Combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and medication therapy

We offer access to several different types of sleep disorder treatment and often combine one or more treatments to achieve the desired results. We understand numerous factors can play a role in your sleep disorder. Causes can be physiological, cognitive, behavioral, or emotional, and your treatment should address each of these issues.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD)

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) occurs with chronic bronchitis or emphysema, both of which are a narrowing of the airways in the lungs. Eventually, the conditions result in limited air flow to and from the lungs, which leads to shortness of breath. COPD is triggered when gas, often from smoking cigarettes, causes inflammation in the lungs.

Lung Abscess

Lung abscess is a necrosis of pulmonary tissue or formation of cavities, usually caused by necrotic debris or fluid that forms because of a microbial infection. The cavity is pus-filled and can be caused by aspiration that occurs when a patient is unconscious. Patients suffering from alcoholism are at high risk for lung abscesses.

Lung Disease 

Lung disease is a term used to describe several pathological conditions that affect the tissue and organs responsible for breathing. Problems can range from mild to life-threatening and include pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, and lung cancer.

Pleural Effusion

Pleural effusion occurs when excess fluid forms in the fluid-filled space surrounding the lungs. It can impair breathing because lungs are unable to expand during ventilation.

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lungs that mostly affects the alveoli. It can be caused by an infection from viruses or bacteria, or occasionally microorganisms, as well as some drugs and autoimmune diseases.

Pulmonary hypertension occurs with an increase in blood pressure in the pulmonary vein, artery, or capillaries. These three things make up the lung vasculature. Pulmonary hypertension causes dizziness shortness of breath, fainting, and a variety of other symptoms, which further exacerbate hypertension. 

Lung cancer is cancer located in the lung or lungs. Cancer is an uncontrolled growth of cells that can spread beyond the point of origin and eventually be fatal.

Respiratory failure occurs when there is inadequate gas exchange within the respiratory system. This often results in an imbalance in carbon dioxide and arterial oxygen levels.

Sarcoidosis is a disease that occurs with the formation of chronic inflammatory cells (granulomas) form as nodules in various organs.

Smoking cessation is the process of breaking an addiction to cigarettes or other forms of tobacco smoke. Cigarette smoking causes more preventable deaths than anything else in the world. It causes diseases of the lungs, heart, and liver, and increases a person’s risk for stroke, heart attack, COPD, and various cancers. Smoking can also trigger peripheral vascular disease and hypertension. The longer a person smokes the higher the risk for complications. Extended exposure to second-hand smoke can also trigger many of the health conditions associated with direct smoking.

Solitary pulmonary nodule, also known as a coin lesion, is a mass that forms in the lungs. The lesion is smaller than three centimeters in diameter and can indicate a benign tumor. In about 20% of cases it is a sign of malignant cancer.

Tuberculosis is a fairly common infection caused by various strains of mycobacteria. It can be fatal. The disease attacks the lungs first and eventually affects other parts of the body. It is contagious and spread through air-born saliva. Many TB infections are latent and have no symptoms, but about a tenth of cases lead to an active disease.

Pulmonary Procedures

Pulmonary Disease Specialists provides a variety of procedures to treat the conditions and diseases listed above. These include:

Pulmonary function

Pulmonary function tests are several different tests use to measure the efficiency of the lungs to exhale and inhale and to transfer oxygen into the blood.

Bronchoscopy

Bronchoscopy is used for diagnostic and therapeutic reasons. A bronchoscope is inserted through the nose, mouth, or tracheostomy into the airway. The camera on the scope provides a view of the internal airway and allows doctors to detect bleeding, foreign bodies, tumors, and inflammation.

Lung volume measurement

Lung volume measurement determines if a person is suffering from a restrictive lung disease. Patients are unable to inhale sufficient amounts of air, which can be caused by inflammation or scarring of lung tissue, as well as abnormalities in the skeleton or muscles in the chest wall.

Pleural biopsy

Pleural biopsy is used to distinguish between non-cancerous diseases and cancer. A small piece of tissue is removed from the chest during the procedure and tested for cancer cells, or the presence of a viral, fungal, or parasitic disease.

Spirometry

Spirometry measures the lung’s ability to exhale. This information helps doctors diagnose lung conditions and is useful for patient’s suffering from obstructive lung diseases, such as COPD and asthma.

Six Minute Walk Test 

Six Minute Walk Test examines a patient’s therapeutic response and physical function when they are suffering from chronic lung disease or idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Testing of the diffusion capacity (DLCO)

Testing of the diffusion capacity (DLCO) shows how efficiently the lungs transfer oxygen to the bloodstream.

Thoracentesis

Thoracentesis is used to remove excess fluid that forms in the pleural space. There is usually some fluid in this area, but tumors, heart failure, and lung infections can trigger excess fluid buildup. This is a condition known as pleural effusion and can put pressure on the lungs and impair breathing.

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