Usually, breathing is effortless, but when an illness impedes breathing, it is time to seek the assistance of a pulmonologist: a doctor who specializes in lung and airway disorders. Pulmonary physicians diagnose and treat lung diseases. They are trained in internal medicine, lungs, and the cardio-pulmonary system which is the lungs, heart, blood vessels, and all the organs that help a person breathe.

Pulmonary physicians treat breathing disorders, chronic cough, severe allergies, asthma, sleep disorders, tuberculosis, lung abscesses, certain types of cancer, and lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis.