The book addresses functional changes associated with or resulting from pulmonary diseases. Population-based clinical, epidemiological, and multicenter investigations are presented to provide a comprehensive update on prevalent respiratory problems; the exemplars are respiratory tract infections, tobacco abuse, chronic obstructive lung diseases, or socio-economic influence on morbidity. Novel issues related to the function of the carotid body, an organ generating hypoxic hyperventilation also are tackled. Significant insights into a wide range of related conditions are provided. Chapters are relevant to the broad readership as they examine health care quality, effectiveness of therapeutic strategies, the patient quality of life, and other relevant health issues. The authors present late-breaking knowledge and aim at thought-stimulating viewpoints on timely clinical topics in respiratory medicine. weiterlesen