Pulmonary Medicine deals with the very air you breathe, making sure your organs and tissues receive the oxygen they – and you – need to live.

Our board-certified pulmonary doctor is trained to provide comprehensive, high-quality, compassionate pulmonary and critical care treatment. Medical Director and lung specialist, Dr. Ishaaya, has been teaching medical students, residents and fellows of UCLA School of Medicine since 1996 and brings his expertise to his large private practice.

As an established internist and pulmonologist in Los Angeles, Dr. Ishaaya knows that the health of your lungs can be affected by smoking, obesity or allergies — that’s why he offers comprehensive solutions and treatment options to manage patients’ overall well being, including smoking cessation laser therapy and allergy testing and treatment.

Symptoms of Pulmonary Disease

The most frequent warning signs of lung disease are listed below. If you have any of these symptoms, you should make an appointment to see our pulmonologist as soon as possible:

Shortness of Breath

The feeling that you cannot catch your breath or get enough air after a brief rest period following normal exercise, climbing a flight of stairs, walking less than a block or after little or no exertion. Or any labored breathing problems that you did not experience previously.

Chronic Cough

A persistent cough that has lasted for a month. This is especially alarming if you are or have been a smoker.

Chronic Sputum Production

Persistent phlegm or sputum (the mucus that is secreted when you cough) for a month.

Wheezing

A high-pitched whistling sound produced by air flowing through narrowed or tight breathing tubes. It is a common symptom of asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Coughing Up Blood:

This may indicate that there is a problem in the lungs or the upper airways.

If you suspect that you have even one of these lung cancer or pulmonary disease symptoms, contact our board certified lung specialist without delay – early treatment is critical. Please call us at (323) 954-1788 or (323) 938-ALPS.

Office Appointment and Tests

At your initial appointment, you will be asked to provide your medical history, and discuss any symptoms, concerns or problems you may have. Depending on your discussion and medical examination, the doctor might order blood or urine tests, X-ray, breathing tests, echocardiogram, allergy tests, or Pulmonary Function Tests. Most of these tests will be done in our office.

Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) Spirometry:

This test measures how much air you can inhale and how quickly you can exhale it. You will be asked to take a big breath and quickly exhale into a machine. Do not use any bronchodilators for 4 hours or smoke cigarettes for 2 hours prior to test.

Bronchodilator:

After the spirometry measurements are taken, you will be asked to inhale a bronchodilator (medication) to open your breathing tubes. A second spirometry measurement will then be taken to check for improvement.

Lung Volume Test:

This test measures the total amount of air in your lungs. The results will enable our physician to assess the volume size of the lung and check for over-expansion of the lungs.

Diffusion Capacity Measurements:

These tests record how well a harmless test gas passes through the lungs into the bloodstream, which allows our physicians to check for any lung damage or scarring.

Based on your medical examination and test results, our physicians will discuss your diagnosis and recommend appropriate treatment

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