Skip to main content
Breathing Lessons: A Doctor's Guide to Lung Health

Breathing Lessons: A Doctor's Guide to Lung Health

Current price: $25.00
Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN:
9780393866629
Pages:
192

Description

An authoritative, accessible guide to how our lungs work and how to protect them.

Every day, our lungs circulate 11,000 liters of air, provide us with life-sustaining oxygen, and allow us to speak, sing, and smell. It’s no secret that our lungs are one of our most vital organs, and yet most of us pay them little attention. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has reminded us of the importance of our lungs, and sparked interest in their function and the risks they face.

In Breathing Lessons, leading pulmonologist and national spokesperson for the American Lung Association Dr. MeiLan K. Han takes readers on a fascinating tour of this neglected yet crucial organ. Han explains the wonder of breathing and reveals how the lungs serve as the body’s first line of defense. She provides a timely overview of the latest scientific thinking about the leading respiratory risks—including indoor and outdoor pollution, smoking and vaping, wildfire smoke, and viruses like SARS-CoV-2—and offers practical advice on how to protect the lungs at each stage of our lives, beginning in the womb. She outlines the major categories of chronic lung disease and demystifies the process lung doctors go through in making a diagnosis and recommending treatments. With authority as both practitioner and medical researcher, Han argues powerfully for social policies that make preserving lung health a national priority.

Breathing Lessons is a rallying cry for lung health and an urgent call to start giving our lungs the attention they deserve.

About the Author

MeiLan K. Han, MD, is a professor of medicine and Chief of the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care at the University of Michigan and a national spokesperson for the American Lung Association. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Praise for Breathing Lessons: A Doctor's Guide to Lung Health

A comprehensive guide to lung structure, without seeming too daunting to a layman reader… [Han's] call for pulmonary education could not have come at a better time.
— Bri Paterson - The Lancet

Han's heartfelt plea to 'preserve human lung health' hits all the marks. Comprehensive and accessible, [Breathing Lessons] arrives right on time.

— Publishers Weekly

Concise and accessible…A fine primer to an essential organ.
— Kirkus Reviews

Breathing is essential to life, yet historically, the lungs haven’t received as much attention as other organs of the body. Especially as our world faces the intersecting health threats of COVID-19, chronic lung diseases, and air pollution, Breathing Lessons is an imperative and engaging read for all those who breathe.

— Harold Wimmer, President and CEO, American Lung Association

Combines memoir with how-to guide in order to explain the importance of our lungs…A practical guide to an essential organ; will especially interest readers of James Nestor's Breath.

— Margaret Henderson - Library Journal