Treating Breathing Problems at St. Luke’s

Lungs play an important role in keeping people alive. During a breath, the lungs take in oxygen from the air and deliver it to the bloodstream. Cells need oxygen to work and grow. During a normal day, a person breathes nearly 25,000 times.

People with lung disease have difficulty breathing. Millions of people in the U.S. have lung disease. If all types of lung disease are added together, it is the number three killer in the United States.

Signs of breathing problems can include:

• Persistent cough
• Shortness of breath
• Abnormal chest X-ray or CT scan

See the following pages for more information about these lung diseases:

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) 
• Asthma
• Lung Cancer
• Pulmonary Hypertension