Pulmonary
Whether you are suffering from asthma and bronchitis or require critical care, the Pulmonary Medicine department at the Elmhurst Clinic treats a variety of patients with diseases of the lung and other respiratory disorders.
What is Pulmonary Medicine?
Pulmonary medicine is as an internal medicine subspecialty centered on the pulmonary system, which includes the lungs and blood vessels leading to and from the lungs from the heart. Oxygen-poor blood is pumped from the heart through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs. There, blood is infused with fresh oxygen while cellular waste products, including carbon dioxide, are exhaled from the body. The oxygenated blood travels back to the heart through the pulmonary veins where it is pumped out to nourish the organs, cells and tissues of the body. Unlike all other arteries, the pulmonary arteries contain oxygen-poor blood. Similarly, unlike all other veins, the pulmonary veins contain oxygen-rich blood.