Breathlessness is increasingly recognised as a common, disabling symptom of many advanced diseases and one that is very difficult to treat. There is now an understanding that a multi-disciplinary approach to management can make a significant impact on the severity of the symptom improving both the patient s and their carers quality of life.

Breathlessness is one of the most difficult conditions that palliative care (and other clinicians who care for patients with advanced disease) have to treat. With the improvements in pain control, it is possibly now the most difficult symptom for clinicians to manage: many feel frustrated at not being able to give their patients better care. Many patients and families are enduring terrible suffering. There has been little progress in improving the symptom, in spite of an increase in the amount of research and interest in it over the last twenty years. The Cambridge Breathlessness Intervention Service (CBIS) has been established since 2004 and is a research-based service which has being evaluated since its inception: its model of caring has been shaped by the patients and families who use it and the clinicians who refer to it.CBIS has firm evidence of its effectiveness with patients with breathlessness with both malignant and non-malignant disease. This book will help others to manage breathlessness in their day-to-day clinical practice and, if so desired, set up their own breathlessness service. There is a well-established website which can be used in conjunction with the book. The book is written to give practical help in the clinical management of breathlessness and written so that the information is easy to access in clinic, ward or home."

Respiratory disease is the second most common cause of death worldwide. Patients with advanced non-malignant disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, have similar or even greater health care needs than those with advanced lung cancer. Uncontrolled symptoms, distress, and social isolation contribute to the poor quality of life experienced by such patients.
This book provides practical guidance to professionals who care for patients with advanced respiratory disease. It gives evidence-based advice on a wide range of topics, including management of respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms, chronic respiratory failure, and respiratory emergencies. Recognition of when a patient may be approaching the end of life can be particularly challenging in patients with advanced respiratory disease. Ways to facilitate prognostication are covered, along with the significant communication and ethical challenges that this phase of life can present.
Written by a respiratory specialist and two palliative medicine physicians, this book will be of great value to doctors, nurses, and allied healthcare professionals working in respiratory medicine and in palliative care, both in relation to everyday clinical practice as well as meeting the requirements for postgraduate exams.