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Occupational asthma overview

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Overview

Asthma is defined as a respiratory disease caused by narrowing of the air passages that is synonymous with difficulty in breathing, tightness of chest, nasal irritation, coughing and wheezing.

Occupational asthma is defined as:

“A disease characterized by variable airflow limitation and/or airway hyper-responsiveness due to causes and conditions attributable to a particular occupational environment and not stimuli encountered outside the workplace”.[1][2]

References

References

  1. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Vol 167. pp. 450-471, (2003). Proceedings of the First Jack Pepys Occupational Asthma Symposium.
  2. Tarlo SM, Balmes J, Balkissoon R, Beach J, Beckett W, Bernstein D et al. (2008) Diagnosis and management of work-related asthma: American College Of Chest Physicians Consensus Statement. Chest 134 (3 Suppl):1S-41S. DOI:10.1378/chest.08-0201 PMID: 18779187

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