Parkes Occupational Lung Disorders Fourth Edition

This authoritative text on occupational lung disorders builds upon the fundamentals, including clinical, epidemiological, and predictive approaches. It discusses interstitial and malignant diseases, airways diseases, and other respiratory issues, such as diving, working at high altitudes, and abnormal sleep conditions. It also covers related long-term conditions, such as asthma and COPD. This edition has been completely revised and brought up to date for all physicians dealing with pulmonary disorders caused by the environment or the workplace.

Occupational factors are responsible for a large percentage of cases of asthma in adults of working age. Any irritant generated at high concentrations can cause occupational asthma, and early diagnosis is critical because cure is still possible at this stage. This latest edition of Asthma in the Workplace reflects the rapid pace of discovery and research in workplace asthma that has taken place in recent years. This Fourth Edition retains the international flavor of prior editions, with contributions from editors and contributors from around the world. Several chapters commence with clinical histories and workplace scenarios relevant to the focus of the chapter, making it particularly germane for primary care providers to develop skills in early recognition of the disease. Topics discussed include: Definitions, historical background, epidemiology, genetics, pathophysiology, and animal models Guidelines for assessing the worker and the workplace, and proposed guidelines for management, including compensation aspects Medicolegal aspects, prevention, and surveillance Detailed information about specific agents, including a variety of high- and low-molecular weight agents Other types of work-related asthma conditions, such as irritant-induced asthma, eosinophilic bronchitis, and occupational rhinitis This new edition has been significantly restructured and places a greater emphasis on the clinical aspects of management and treatment. This heightened focus on practical considerations makes it a truly comprehensive, hands-on resource for practitioners and researchers in this fast-moving field.

This is the first textbook that makes workplace health surveillance accessible to a broad audience. Step-by-step, it shows how to establish or improve a surveillance system. The reader learns about defining objectives, seeking organizational support, forming a surveillance workgroup, collecting data, calculating basic injury and illness statistics, designing databases, analyzing and interpreting surveillance data, setting priorities, making protocols for follow-up and case management, marketing results and giving feedback, and evaluating surveillance systems. Links are emphasized between surveillance and workplace follow-up, community-based intervention programs, cost-benefit analysis, and other prevention activities. Readers get a solid foundation of epidemiologic concepts reinforced by examples that use simple arithmetic. Leading practitioners from government, business, and unions illustrate the surveillance of injuries, lead poisoning, pesticide illness, cumulative trauma disorders, asthma, noise-induced hearing loss, silicosis, cancer, and chemical and physical hazards. Non-traditional data sources are examined, including health and disability insurance, hospital discharge, and poison control centers. Disability surveillance, return-to-work, and the quality/effectiveness of health services also are explored. Surveillance is shown to be an action-oriented tool for decision-making that is the key to a successful health and safety program.