Gasping for Air: How Breathing Is Killing Us and What We Can Do about It - Softcover

Glynn MD, Kevin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 153812601X ISBN 13: 9781538126011

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2018

Synopsis

Breathing is a continuous battle between our need for oxygen and forces in nature that attack our lungs. Three hundred thousand Americans will die of respiratory diseases this year. Gasping for Air is the dramatic story of how infections, toxins, carcinogens, and air pollution strike against one of our basic body functions. The book also describes how we come into the struggle with diseases like asthma, cystic fibrosis, and sleep apnea, which make us vulnerable to assaults on breathing from without and within.

We have powerful weapons to defend breathing. Medical science, public health, engineering, and business, all play important roles in the effort to support breathing. Yet, Gasping for Air also reminds readers how breathing support has been at the eye of the storm in many ethical dilemmas of modern healthcare. Here, Kevin Glynn, an experienced pulmonologist and lifelong asthma sufferer tells stories about the third most common cause of premature deaths in the developed world, describes lethal forces in Nature (infections, genetic predispositions) and from human activities (dusty occupations, tobacco smoking, chemical toxins, drug overdoses) that threaten to suffocate us, and offers sage advice for how to prevent and address those threats and the damage they cause.

About this title

About the Author:

Kevin Glynn, MD, is a senior physician with ScrippsHealth in La Jolla, California. His 30 years treating respiratory disorders and his personal experience as someone with asthma make him uniquely qualified to tell the story of breathing. He practiced as a pulmonary specialist in San Diego and was Medical Director of Respiratory Care at Scripps Mercy Hospital. Recognized as a leader in San Diego medicine, Dr. Glynn was chief of pulmonary medicine, chief of medicine, and chief of staff at Scripps Mercy. He chaired the Biomedical Ethics Committee of the San Diego County Medical Society. Recognized for his contributions as a bedside teacher, he was a clinical professor at UCSD School of Medicine, and received the Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching at Scripps Mercy. A talented story teller, Dr. Glynn has published 20 articles in nationally circulated journals on topics related to clinical medicine, biomedical ethics, and professionalism in medicine. He was a long-time member of the Editorial Board of the San Diego Physician, the monthly journal of the San Diego County Medical Society, and for two years served as its editor. He is a member of the San Diego Writers & Editors Guild, and San Diego Writers’ Ink. For three years he was medical commentator on the radio program, Tuned in on Health, which aired weekly in San Diego, and was a frequent media analyst on medical topics.

Review:

Glynn, a medical doctor who specializes in respiratory care, makes it impossible to take breathing for granted. It’s vital for life. Within five minutes of not doing it, our brains begin to die. Glynn accurately describes breathing in a narrative that is part history, part biography, and part science. He covers the history of tuberculosis, pneumonia, and polio. He talks about 'suffocating work.' More than 300 substances cause occupational asthma. And he looks at lung cancer, which kills 160,000 Americans per year, including his father, a heavy smoker. Who could blame him and his peers? Old ads featured physicians touting the refreshing power of cigarettes. Like two of his children and grandchildren, Glynn suffers from asthma. But his childhood condition came with a silver lining. Because sports were tricky for him as a child, he turned to books. And now he’s written one that is well researched and thoughtful and that should appeal to a large audience, given that 36 million Americans live with respiratory impairment. Inhale, exhale, appreciate. (Booklist)

Gasping for Air is an extraordinary piece of scientific work which is more of an artistic masterpiece. It's thoroughly researched and extremely well written. Dr. Glynn has somehow managed to weave together history of pulmonary medicine, several anecdotes and personal experiences into an artfully written Novel of Pulmonary Medicine for the non-physician. Though, it's a must read for every practicing pulmonologists as well. (Ibrahim Faruqi, MD, MPH, FCCP, Director, Interstitial Lung Disease Program; Director, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Training Program, University of Florida)

Kevin Glynn has written a behind-the-front-lines war chronicle, recounting in compelling detail our war against nature (influenza, tuberculosis, polio, fungi, Legionnaire’s disease) and against ourselves (toxins, industrial pollutants, cigarette smoke). Filled with personal stories and dramatic historical accounts—like the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal—Gasping for Air will take your breath away. (Paul A. Offit M.D., MD, professor of pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; author of Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong (National Geographic Press, 2017))

Dr. Glynn has a gift for tackling would-be elusive and complicated matters, and making them not only understandable, but a pleasant and engaging read. Indeed, I found this book to most engaging. But it’s also informative enough to consider it as Recommended Reading for pulmonary/critical care fellows, perhaps even faculty, based on my experience is dealing with the former as a program director in an earlier life. Would other readers benefit? Sure. I think pulmonary Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants, Respiratory Therapists, air conservationists, medical students and college undergraduates who have not yet decided on their career vector – any of these could stand to benefit. In fact, anyone who’d like to learn more about respiration will find Gasping for Air worthwhile. (Lawrence W. Raymond, Director, Carolinas HealthCare System, ScM FCCP)

Well-written, clear, informative, humorous, but most of all—sensitive and compassionate. (Kenneth Miller, San Diego radiologist)

This book is an easy read for those interested in becoming health professionals or for health professionals involved in caring for patients with pulmonary issues. The work offers discussions pertaining to various problems that cause pulmonary disease, such as pollution, infectious toxins, and carcinogens. Glynn, a pulmonary specialist and senior physician, suffers from severe asthma; as a result, he is able to provide a thorough account of how people who have difficulty breathing and obtaining air truly feel. He offers several anecdotes of patients with various respiratory diseases that he has treated throughout his long career. Glynn provides expert details of disorders such as sleep apnea, asthma, emphysema, and cystic fibrosis. He also offers advice for sufferers on how to prevent severe exacerbations of these diseases. Additionally, interesting statistics that illustrate the number of individuals in the US and worldwide with respiratory problems are cited, along with a historical perspective of how influenza, polio, tuberculosis, and fungal processes have caused serious health concerns over the years. Overall, Gasping for Air offers an interesting account for patients suffering from pulmonary diseases. Also, the work will be a useful resource for individuals involved in caring for those with breathing issues. (CHOICE)

About this edition

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 153812601X
• ISBN 13: 9781538126011
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288