DEAR DOCTOR K: My husband smokes. Is secondhand smoke really as dangerous for me as I've heard?
DEAR READER: When I first became a doctor, very few people thought that secondhand smoke affected your health. I was one of the skeptics. It just seemed like the amount of smoke you take into your lungs when you smoke is so much more than when you are with a smoker.
DEAR DOCTOR K: I've been coughing for weeks. Why won't this cough go away?
DEAR READER: Every human being coughs, beginning from the first moments after birth. In fact, we probably cough when we're still in the uterus. Why do we cough? The answer probably is that coughing protects our lungs.
DEAR DOCTOR K: My doctor thinks I may have asthma. He wants to do a pulmonary function test. What can I expect?
DEAR READER: Pulmonary function testing examines different aspects of how your lungs function. During the test, you will breathe in and out through a tube that is connected to various machines. A test called spirometry measures how forcefully you can inhale and exhale while taking as large a breath as possible. Give this test your best effort. You can skew the results by not trying hard.
DEAR DOCTOR K: After years of smoking I've developed chronic bronchitis. Every morning I cough up lots of mucus. What can I do to control this cough?
DEAR READER: Chronic bronchitis is a common form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. COPD refers to a group of disorders that damage the lungs and make breathing increasingly difficult over time. Most cases of COPD are related to cigarette smoking.
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Dr. Anthony Komaroff is a practicing physician, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Editor in Chief of Harvard Health Publications. Learn more »
Harvard Health Publications is the publishing division of Harvard Medical School, providing the general public with authoritative, trustworthy, and accessible health information. Learn more »
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