Dr. Katharine E Black MD

Living with cystic fibrosis or CF can weigh heavily on your everyday routine. With the amount of medications and treatments that you constantly need to take, you are at a greater risk of catching germs and developing infections. Such infections can cause harm to your lungs, in turn leading to severe...

Asthma refers to the chronic inflammatory disease of the respiratory system. The causes for asthma differ depending on the individual. During an asthma attack, the airways become narrow, inflamed, and begin to fill with mucus. This makes breathing a difficult task, and leads to coughing and...

Pleurisy is the inflammation of the two-layered membranes lining your lungs. Your doctor can diagnose pleurisy after taking a careful history, complete physical exam, and investigations.During the diagnosis, your doctor will exclude all the other possible causes that have a similar presentation and...

Pneumonia is a disease that affects the lungs due to an infection caused by bacteria, virus, or fungus. Pneumonia can either affect the left, right, or both lobes of the lungs.Pneumonia is a serious disease affecting people of any age. However, toddlers and young children are more affected by...

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited disease that is caused by a defect in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. The CFTR protein is responsible for controlling the transportation of salt in and out of cells. Any mutations in the CFTR gene can cause an imbalance in the...

What is pleurisy?Pleurisy is the inflammation of the thin pleural membranes that line the lungs.What happens in pleurisy?A thin membrane called the pleura lines your lungs. The pleura are double-layered membranes that line your lungs as well as the inner aspect of the chest wall. Between these...