Occupational lung disease Part 1. Identifying work-related asthma and other disorders

Primary care physicians often have the first opportunity to identify the connection between the workplace and lung disease in affected workers. To enhance the effectiveness of this process, Drs Kuschner and Stark have developed 10 principles for recognizing occupational asthma and diffuse parenchymal lung disease. In part 1 of this two-part article, the authors discuss fundamental issues related to occupational lung disease and present principles 1 through 5. Principles 6 through 10 are discussed in part 2, beginning on page 81.