"Occupational medicine represents the interface between work and health. As such, its breadth encompasses issues of clinical medicine, epidemiology, occupational hygiene, toxicology, ethics, and the law."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23516692

J R Coll Physicians Edinb. 2013 Mar;43(1):44-8. doi: 10.4997/JRCPE.2013.111.

Occupational lung disease.

Reid PA, Reid PT.

Source

PT Reid, Department of Respiratory Medicine Western General Hospital Crewe Road Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK. Peter.Reid@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk.

Abstract

Occupational medicine represents the interface between work and health. As such, its breadth encompasses issues of clinical medicine, epidemiology, occupational hygiene, toxicology, ethics, and the law. The diagnosis of an occupational lung disease has implications not only for the health of the worker, but also in some circumstances for the health of colleagues and the employer. It is not surprising that many clinicians find this challenging. The aim of this paper is to provide a summary of common work-related lung disorders, and stress the importance of considering a patients' occupation when presented with a range of respiratory symptoms.