Blog Archive

Every year in the United States, millions of people get pneumonia — inflammation and fluid build-up in one or both lungs caused by a viral, bacterial, or fungal infection.  This common lung infection can range in severity from mild to serious and is responsible for more than one million hospitalizations...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disease that affects tens of millions of people in the United States: 16 million Americans have been diagnosed with it and millions more don’t yet know they have it. COPD is a major cause of adult disability and the nation’s sixth...

If you’re one of the millions of Americans with asthma, you know how easily this chronic lung disease can steal your breath when something — allergens, cold air, smoke, or a virus — irritates your airways, causing them to swell and fill with mucus.  The main goal of asthma treatment...

Pulmonary function testing includes various breathing tests that show how well your lungs work. Specifically, they evaluate how strong your lungs are and how well they exchange air by measuring: How much air goes into and out of your lungs How much air goes from your lungs to your bloodstream...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of inflammatory lung diseases that includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Over time, this condition causes progressive airway damage and blockage that makes it hard to breathe. You can’t cure or reverse COPD, but medication and lifestyle changes can help you manage it. ...

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that causes wheezing, chest tightness, coughing, and shortness of breath when something — like an allergen, smoke, or cold air — irritates your airways, making them swell, fill with mucus, and narrow.  Minimizing your contact with known asthma triggers can help prevent these symptom...

What began as a slight, irritating cough has become something a bit more worrisome. Whether it seems to be getting worse, is accompanied by fever, phlegm, wheezing, or other symptoms, or has simply persisted longer than expected, you’re probably wondering: Does my cough require expert care? Our seasoned team encourages...

If you can’t recall the last time you woke up feeling well-rested, refreshed, alert, and ready to take on your day, you’re not alone: A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that three in four adults in the United States deal with one or...

Of the 24.8 million people who have asthma in the United States, nearly half (11.9 million) have had at least one asthma attack within the past year. About 1.7 million Americans visit the emergency room for severe asthma symptoms each year, and close to 189,000 people are hospitalized because of...

If you’re a smoker, kicking the habit for good is the single most important action you can take to improve your health and protect your long-term well-being. No matter what your age, how much you smoke, or how long you’ve been smoking, the benefits of quitting are immense and invaluable. ...

Dyspnea, or shortness of breath, can be a sign of many different health concerns, including serious heart and lung conditions. Depending on its underlying cause, this uncomfortable, tight-chested sensation of “air hunger” — or not being able to take a deep breath or get enough air into your lungs —...

Pleural effusion is the abnormal accumulation of excess fluid in the space between your lungs and chest cavity. Sometimes referred to as “water on the lungs,” this common condition affects more than 1.5 million people in the United States each year.  At Fivestar Pulmonary Associates in Allen, McKinney, and Plano,...

If you wake up feeling exhausted every morning, or if you struggle to stay awake during the day despite getting the recommended seven-plus hours of shut-eye each night, it may be time to schedule a comprehensive sleep apnea evaluation at Fivestar Pulmonary Associates in Allen, McKinney, and Plano, Texas.  Sleep...

As one of the primary lung disorders that’s diagnosed under the umbrella medical term of “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease” (COPD), emphysema injury and inflammation cause ongoing, worsening airflow blockage and ongoing respiratory problems. Given that emphysema can inflict irreparable damage on your airways and lungs for many years before it...

Experts estimate that some 30 million people in the United States — or just over one in four adults (26%) between the ages of 30 and 70 — have some form of sleep apnea. Of those, only about six million have been officially diagnosed with sleep-disordered breathing.  At Fivestar Pulmonary...

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that gives rise to episodes of coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and shortness of breath. It affects about 26.5 million people in the United States, resulting in 12.7 million visits to doctor’s offices and outpatient hospital departments, 1.3 million emergency room visits, and 439,000...

Persistent shortness of breath is a common symptom for people affected by lung disease, an umbrella medical term that covers a myriad of chronic lung conditions that restrict respiration, undermine pulmonary function, and impair circulation. Lung disease can affect:  Airways (i.e., asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis) Lung tissues and structures (i.e., sarcoidosis)...

Lung cancer is the second most common form of cancer in the United States, following skin cancer. Unfortunately, it’s also the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among American men and women. In 80-90% of lung cancer cases, smoking (tobacco use) is to blame.  At Fivestar Pulmonary Associates in Allen, McKinney,...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of inflammatory lung diseases that cause progressive airway damage, ongoing airflow blockage, worsening breathing problems, reduced quality of life, and increased risk of mortality for about 16 million people in the United States. In up to 90% of these cases, smoking is to blame. ...

As the most common sleep-related breathing disorder in the United States, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects over 1 in 4 American adults (26%) between the ages of 30-70. If you’re one of them, you may already know that treating OSA isn’t just about putting an end to chronic snoring and frequent awakenings...

Oxygen is vital to life, and getting enough oxygen is vital to sustained health. But if you have a long-standing respiratory condition like bronchiectasis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, sarcoidosis, or sleep apnea, you may have low blood oxygen levels that undermine your health...

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that causes your airways to swell and fill with mucus, making it difficult to breathe. It also causes the muscles around your airways to tighten, restricting your respiration even more. An asthma attack, or symptom flare-up, typically consists of wheezing, chest tightness, a recurrent...

Pneumonia is an inflammatory pulmonary infection that causes the small air sacs (alveoli) of one or both lungs to fill with fluid or pus. Because it has several potential causes and can trigger a wide range of symptoms, it’s important to know how to recognize the possible signs of this common...

Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke kill nearly half a million people every year in the United States, making tobacco use the nation’s leading cause of preventable death. Smoking is also the primary cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer.  Deciding to quit smoking is half the battle — and...

In the United States, lung cancer is the second most common form of cancer that affects both men and women (following skin cancer). Unfortunately, lung cancer is also the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among American adults. More people in the U.S. die of lung cancer than of any other...

Shortness of breath is the uncomfortable, tight-chested sensation of not being able to take a deep breath or get enough air into your lungs. Physicians call this frightening feeling dyspnea, and it can come on suddenly (acute dyspnea) or develop slowly, over time (chronic dyspnea).  At Fivestar Pulmonary Associates in...

If you can’t remember the last time you woke up in the morning feeling refreshed, alert, and ready for your day, you’re not alone. About 70 million adults in the United States live with a chronic sleep disorder that sabotages their ability to get the deep, restful sleep they need...

For the tens of millions of people affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), it can be exhausting to cope with unrelenting breathing difficulties, frequent coughing, and other persistent respiratory symptoms.  Early COPD symptoms tend to emerge slowly. As a result, many people live with the condition for years before they’re properly...

The bad news is there’s no cure for asthma. The good news is that asthma is not only treatable, it’s often avoidable if you know what triggers an asthma attack. At Fivestar Pulmonary Associates in Allen, Texas, our board-certified specialists, Dr. Anthony Nebor and Dr. Asif Najmuddin, care for your...