Respiratory Matters: a blog for the respiratory community

Respiratory Matters is a monthly ERS blog offering insight into the experiences of respiratory-focused professionals worldwide. It is written by ERS officers and members across all specialties, offering clinical, scientific and allied healthcare professional perspectives.

The opinions expressed in the blog and comments section do not reflect the opinions of the European Respiratory Society (ERS). ERS is also not responsible for the accuracy of the information provided within.

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Air pollution from agricultural sources: the elephant—or, is it a cow?—in the room

20 December, 2018

Breathing clean air is vital for healthy lungs. Every day, new research articles are published, telling us how indoor or ambient air contaminated…

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Precision medicine in COPD: from hope to disappointment

15 November, 2018

A hopeful patient…

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Collective action to put a spotlight on lung health

29 August, 2018

As members of an international respiratory community, we are all concerned with reducing the burden of lung health across the globe. Raising…

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Prolonged weaning and long-term mechanical ventilation: Medical aspects, structured organisation and ethical aspects

18 July, 2018

A challenge for pulmonary medicine…

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The vital importance of the multidisciplinary team in managing lung cancer: a thoracic surgeon’s view

5 June, 2018

More than other pulmonary pathologies, lung cancer requires a multidisciplinary approach to set up treatment which, with the same incidence,…

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The homology of clinical-academic nursing

4 May, 2018

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) was a forerunner of nursing practice and an exponent of evidence-based nursing. She came from a privileged…

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The opportunities of pulmonary rehabilitation

23 April, 2018

Devaluation of the term pulmonary rehabilitation…

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Extreme workplace exposures in the developing world; peeping through Pandora´s box

25 July, 2018

Inhaled workplace exposures continue to damage the lungs of children and adults worldwide. The ERS Occupational and Environmental Health Group…

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The life cycle of intensive care survivors

13 February, 2018

I started the Intensive care follow-up clinic to try to make sense of my work with critical patients and get feedback from their physical…

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Empty-handed

25 July, 2018

I am sitting next to her on my knees. She just managed to make a few steps out of her bed and is sitting on a chair, trying to catch her breath.…

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The semantics of COPD exacerbations

12 July, 2017

COPD exacerbation as a result of pneumonia? …

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Moving away from therapeutic nihilism in COPD

25 July, 2018

Living with advanced COPD in 2002…

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The power of patients engaging in research and clinical care

22 March, 2017

I was going to write this blog on the important meeting that the World Health Organization (WHO) hosted on the significance of rehabilitation in…

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Precision respiratory medicine in clinical practice: at the balance between facts and trivia

5 January, 2017

Approximately half of the smoking population is considered susceptible to, and will develop, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)(1).

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The joy of working in an international consortium

17 November, 2016

I’m writing this blog in the Brussels airport lounge on the 9th of November. It is 5am and I see a surrealistic scenario unfold where our…

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Lack of integrated cardiopulmonary care

7 October, 2016

A well-recognized clinical problem, but do we have the heart to make a real change?…

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Dedicated medical training centres - a standard in European respiratory medicine?

28 June, 2016

Sylvia Hartl: Respiratory trainees often complain that specialist respiratory training does not fulfil their expectations in terms of quality…

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Yes we will! Bottom-up research priorities

28 June, 2016

Are we sharing a frustration?…

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Take the active option

27 June, 2016

For the duration of the ERS conference, Amsterdam was invited to think about the consequences of physical inactivity. Pedometers were given away…

Harmonising respiratory knowledge throughout Europe (and beyond)

Even although this blog should be about the vision of an allied health professional on the respiratory field it is hard to start it without a…

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Noninvasive ventilation: from acute to chronic intervention

27 June, 2016

Sylvia Hartl: The method of noninvasive ventilatory support (NIV) was established as a new standard treatment for ventilatory failure nearly 30…

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Have you submitted your ERS abstract? Did you feel the fever?

27 June, 2016

Scientific spring?…

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A proposal for a delayed New Years’ resolution: make use of pulmonary rehabilitation for patients who need it

27 June, 2016

Thierry Troosters: The turning of the year comes with New Year resolutions. In the United States the most frequently reported resolution was…

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The changing face of lung cancer treatment

27 June, 2016

Sylvia Hartl: As Head of a respiratory department in Austria, I care for patients suffering from lung cancer. In my country, the respiratory…

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The dynamics of respiratory science: towards 4D research

27 June, 2016

Peter Sterk: I am sure I am not the only one experiencing episodic excitement in science. We are not just robots, shifting protocols and papers,…