Acute lung injury (ALI) impacts patient care in every ICU in the world. Our collective understanding of this condition has grown immensely over the past decade but morbidity and mortality remain unacceptably high. To enhance the understanding of clinicians and researchers, this book addresses the pathophysiology of acute lung injury from a molecular and cellular standpoint; includes animal models of acute lung injury and points to potential therapeutic advances based on scientific findings. It is a concise compendium of the multiple pathways, mechanisms and molecules involved in the pathophysiology of acute lung injury and is intended to help caregivers understand the process and thus care for patients more effectively.

Now in paperback, the second edition of the Oxford Textbook of Critical Care is a comprehensive multi-disciplinary text covering all aspects of adult intensive care management. Uniquely this text takes a problem-orientated approach providing a key resource for daily clinical issues in the intensive care unit. The text is organized into short topics allowing readers to rapidly access authoritative information on specific clinical problems. Each topic refers to basic physiological principles and provides up-to-date treatment advice supported by references to the most vital literature. Where international differences exist in clinical practice, authors cover alternative views. Key messages summarise each topic in order to aid quick review and decision making. Edited and written by an international group of recognized experts from many disciplines, the second edition of the Oxford Textbook of Critical Careprovides an up-to-date reference that is relevant for intensive care units and emergency departments globally. This volume is the definitive text for all health care providers, including physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other allied health professionals who take care of critically ill patients.

This report considers the biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the pathogenicity of tobacco smoke. Many Surgeon General's reports have considered research findings on mechanisms in assessing the biological plausibility of associations observed in epidemiologic studies. Mechanisms of disease are important because they may provide plausibility, which is one of the guideline criteria for assessing evidence on causation. This report specifically reviews the evidence on the potential mechanisms by which smoking causes diseases and considers whether a mechanism is likely to be operative in the production of human disease by tobacco smoke. This evidence is relevant to understanding how smoking causes disease, to identifying those who may be particularly susceptible, and to assessing the potential risks of tobacco products.

Lung Epithelial Biology in the Pathogenesis of Pulmonary Disease provides a one-stop resource capturing developments in lung epithelial biology related to basic physiology, pathophysiology, and links to human disease. The book provides access to knowledge of molecular and cellular aspects of lung homeostasis and repair, including the molecular basis of lung epithelial intercellular communication and lung epithelial channels and transporters. Also included is coverage of lung epithelial biology as it relates to fluid balance, basic ion/fluid molecular processes, and human disease. Useful to physician and clinical scientists, the contents of this book compile the important and most current findings about the role of epithelial cells in lung disease. Medical and graduate students, postdoctoral and clinical fellows, as well as clinicians interested in the mechanistic basis for lung disease will benefit from the books examination of principles of lung epithelium functions in physiological condition. - Provides a single source of information on lung epithelial junctions and transporters - Discusses of the role of the epithelium in lung homeostasis and disease - Includes capsule summaries of main conclusions as well as highlights of future directions in the field - Covers the mechanistic basis for lung disease for a range of audiences

Viral respiratory tract infections are important and common causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In the past two decades, several novel viral respiratory infections have emerged with epidemic potential that threaten global health security. This Monograph aims to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of severe acute respiratory syndrome, Middle East respiratory syndrome and other viral respiratory infections, including seasonal influenza, avian influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and human rhinovirus, through six chapters written by authoritative experts from around the globe.

This new book provides an accessible review of the field of lung biology and disease aimed at the graduate or medical student and biomedical researcher. The book starts by considering the anatomy and ultrastructure of the lung and the tracheal and bronchial system, the control of respiration as well as the fundamentals of pulmonary physiology, gas exchange and circulation. This is followed by discussion of the regulation of acid-base balance, high altitude physiology and pathophysiology as well as exercise and the pulmonary system. Chapters follow on the immunology of the lung, lung injury, asthma and emphysema, granulomatous lung disease, inhalation of toxic substances as well as diseases of the small airways. The final chapter considers current research into lung transplantation.

Covers endothelial biology from the fundamentals of structure and lung fluid balance physiology to descriptions of the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of lung failure. This illustrated text provides the knowledge of endothelial function, vascular integrity, pulmonary function, and pathophysiology in respiratory failure.