Lung & Respiratory

Common Questions & Answers
A chronic cough, breathlessness, chest pain, excess mucus, wheezing, and coughing up blood may indicate a respiratory condition. Seeing a doctor about these before they become severe can help you treat lung diseases before they become serious or life-threatening.
Smoking damages the airways and increases your risk of COPD, lung cancer, and other types of cancers. Secondhand smoke can lead to asthma if children or infants inhale it. Quitting smoking can help you reduce your risk of lung disease.
Allergies to pollen, animal dander, dust mites, or ragweed often trigger asthma and other respiratory issues. Anaphylaxis, or a severe allergic reaction, can make breathing difficult or extremely rapid in the short term.
Doctors often test lung function through spirometry, which shows the speed and volume at which your lungs can expel air. Other breathing tests include the lung volume test, the lung diffusion capacity test, and exercise tests.
Protecting yourself against indoor and outdoor air pollution, quitting or avoiding smoking, and regular exercise benefit lung health. Take steps to avoid allergy triggers if you have asthma. Regular checkups can help you catch any underlying respiratory issues early on.

Rohan Mankikar, MD
Medical Reviewer
Rohan Mankikar, MD, is the chief of pulmonary medicine at Huntington Hospital and practices on Long Island. Originally from New Jersey, Dr. Mankikar studied medicine at The Medical University of Lublin in Poland. He completed his residency from Morehouse School Of Medicine–Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, and after graduating in 2014, he went on to serve as a chief resident. Thereafter, he completed a fellowship in pulmonary medicine from the University of South Carolina in 2017, where he served as a chief pulmonary fellow.
He was awarded Resident of The Year during residency and was inducted into the Arnold P. Gold Humanism Honor Society for his passion for teaching medical students. He received the Jason B. Spiers Best Teaching Fellow Award from the University of South Carolina.
He has authored several abstracts and research projects in the field of pulmonary–critical care medicine as well as serving on the committee for the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

Paul Boyce, MD, MPH
Paul Boyce, MD, MPH, is the medical director of the pulmonary hypertension program at Northside Hospital in Atlanta. He is a board-certified pulmonologist and intensivist, and his main clinical interests are pulmonary hypertension and sarcoid and occupational lung diseases.

Philip Diaz, MD
Philip Diaz, MD, is a board-certified pulmonologist and critical care specialist and a professor of medicine at The Ohio State University. He specializes in caring for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and in pulmonary rehabilitation for all patients who suffer from lung disease.
Dr. Diaz is passionate about patient education and feels very strongly about providing patients an opportunity to participate fully in their own care. His goal is to work together with his patients to achieve the best quality of life possible for them.
Niya Jones, MD, MPH
Medical Reviewer
Niya Jones, MD, MPH, is a board-certified internal medicine physician with a special interest in cardiology, particularly as it relates to health care disparities and women's health. Dr. Jones received her medical degree and master of public health degree from Yale University.

Walter Tsang, MD
Medical Reviewer
Outside of his busy clinical practice, Tsang has taught various courses at UCLA Center for East West Medicine, Loma Linda University, and California University of Science and Medicine. He is passionate about health education and started an online seminar program to teach cancer survivors about nutrition, exercise, stress management, sleep health, and complementary healing methods. Over the years, he has given many presentations on integrative oncology and lifestyle medicine at community events. In addition, he was the founding co-chair of a lifestyle medicine cancer interest group, which promoted integrative medicine education and collaborations among oncology professionals.
Tsang is an active member of American Society of Clinical Oncology, Society for Integrative Oncology, and American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He currently practices at several locations in Southern California. His goal is to transform cancer care in the community, making it more integrative, person-centered, cost-effective and sustainable for the future.

Chung Yoon, MD
Medical Reviewer

Jessica Lee, MD
Medical Reviewer
Her practice centers on first addressing the lifestyle causes of disease and chronic illness, with the understanding and ability to use medical and surgical care for more acute concerns. She is also the co-founder and director of the Keto Hope Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping families use the ketogenic diet as medical treatment for epilepsy

Michael S. Niederman, MD
Medical Reviewer
Michael S. Niederman, MD, is the lead academic and patient quality officer in the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City; a professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College; and Lauder Family Professor in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. He was previously the clinical director and associate chief in the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center.
His focus is on respiratory infections, especially in critically ill patients, with a particular interest in disease pathogenisis, therapy, and ways to improve patient outcomes. His work related to respiratory tract infections includes mechanisms of airway colonization, the management of community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia, the role of guidelines for pneumonia, and the impact of antibiotic resistance on the management and outcomes of respiratory tract infections.
He obtained his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine, then completed his training in internal medicine at Northwestern University School of Medicine, before undertaking a pulmonary and critical care fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine. Prior to joining Weill Cornell Medicine, he was a professor in the department of medicine at the State University of New York in Stony Brook and the chair of the department of medicine at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, New York, for 16 years.
Dr. Niederman served as co-chair of the committees that created the American Thoracic Society's 1993 and 2001 guidelines for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia and the 1996 and 2005 committees that wrote guidelines for the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia. He was a member of the American Thoracic Society/Infectious Diseases Society of America committee that published guidelines for community-acquired pneumonia in 2007. He was also the co-lead author of the 2017 guidelines on nosocomial pneumonia, written on behalf of the European Respiratory Society and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.
He has published over 400 peer-reviewed or review articles, and has lectured widely, both nationally and internationally. He was editor-in-chief of Clinical Pulmonary Medicine, is an associate editor of Critical Care and the European Respiratory Review, and serves on the editorial boards of Critical Care Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine. He has previously served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and Chest. For six years, he was a member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Chest Physicians, and in 2013, he was elected as a master of the American College of Physicians.
- Warning Signs of Lung Disease. American Lung Association. November 20, 2024.
- Protecting Your Lungs. American Lung Association. November 20, 2024.
ALL LUNG & RESPIRATORY ARTICLES









