Emphysema: Importance of Early Diagnosis for Smokers

Film director David Lynch recently announced that he was diagnosised with emphysema, a condition that he attributes to years of smoking tobacco. Emphysema is one of two conditions related to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Jess Mandel, MD, pulmonologist and chief of the Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Division at UC San Diego Health, is available to discuss this condition, the importance of early diagnosis for those who smoke and available treatments, such as pulmonary rehabilitation.

Biography :

Jess Mandel, MD, is a board-certified pulmonologist who treats patients with a variety of respiratory conditions. His interests include pulmonary vascular disease, critical care medicine, and pulmonary vascular malformations such hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (a disorder that affects blood vessels).

He has treated many patients with COVID-19 and led efforts to assist health care professionals in Tijuana during the pandemic.

Mandel is the Kenneth M. Moser Professor of Medicine at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and chief of the Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Division and serves as vice chair for education in the Department of Internal Medicine.

Mandel was honored with a Presidential Citation by the San Diego County Medical Society for his involvement in their COVID response. More significantly, he helped organize relief efforts in Tijuana and Mexicali, reducing the cross-border spread of COVID and saving hundreds of lives.

He is active in several leadership roles with the American Thoracic Society, including serving as chair of their international conference.