Patients with chest ailments form an important part of outdoor patients in most of the Indian hospitals. At the same time, specialization is a hallmark of modern times; respiratory medicine is no exception. With the recognition of chest medicine as a speciality, apart from better diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, which had earlier been overshadowing other chest diseases, more and more non-tuberculous pulmonary disorders have been recognized in the recent decades, through application of advanced diagnostic procedures. The advancement has helped chest physicians to better understand the pathophysiology of diseases, thereby creating possibilities to provide better chest care to the community. The book provides current information regarding tropical pulmonary disorders in a simple language. Bronchial asthma has since been recognised as an inflammatory problem, the role of inhaled corticosteroids has been stressed as the first line of treatment. Similarly, setting up of convenient and economic high-tech pulmonary functional laboratories to provide proper evaluation and management of other airflow limitation disorders has been suggested. Management of bronchial carcinoma reaffirms the physician’s stress to create tobacco-free global atmosphere as the only answer to this dreadful fatal disease. Current topics on lung transplantation, drug induced pulmonary disorders and lungs in connective tissue disorders have also been, though precisely touched, yet with full justice and completeness. The book is an attempt to provide precise and to the point information, that is essential for medical students and practitioners regarding common respiratory diseases and disorders. It may look exacerbated to anticipate that the material provided in a concise manner may serve as a valuable teaching tool as well, since hardly any comparable compendium of information on chest medicine with Indian reference is available. The book may serve as a medium to allow certain outstanding academicians to exchange and crossfertilize ideas, thus encouraging the new investigators in respiratory medicine to initiate further research in this field. Most of the chapters are based on my short experiences in pulmonology that I gained through medical literature and through my clinical practice, while being in close association and direct communication with professors like Dr PS Shankar, Dr SK Jindal and Sir J Crofton respectively. I am grateful to Dr PS Shankar and salute him for his critical evaluation and wise comments. In fact, nothing could pass through his wise eye without scrutiny; that shows the masterly class that he has achieved through his academic career. I express my indebtedness to Professor PS Kalsi for kindly arranging the publication of the book.
