Assessment of Patients with Respiratory Disease

Abstract

Generalisations about disease patterns inevitably oversimplify. However, it is true to say that patients with respiratory disease fall primarily into one of two categories: those with an anatomical illness such as a respiratory infection or lung cancer, and those with a physiological disease where problems of lung function predominate, such as asthma or chronic bronchitis. Although the incidence of anatomical disease is probably greater, the physiological diseases are chronic and often incurable, and they cause considerable disability. Their management dominates the work of most respiratory physicians.