Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center is pleased to welcome a new full-time doctor available for the diagnosis and treatment of lung conditions and other breathing problems.

Dr. Muhammad Gondal is board certified in both Internal Medicine & Pulmonary Medicine and specializes in critcal care and sleep medicine. Dr. Gondal began practicing in Leitchfield on December 1.

 

Dr. Gondal has training and experience in a variety of respiratory conditions including COPD, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer, pneumonia and other lung infections, Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT), respiratory failure, ventilator management, sleep apnea, smoking cessation and tuberculosis. The services Dr. Gondal provides are focused on helping people breathe easier.

 

"We are very fortunate to have a pulmonologist with the amount of experience Dr. Gondal has, " states Robin Embry, director of Cardiopulmonary Services at TLRMC. "There are many patients who have to travel quite a bit to get the treatments that Dr. Gondal is now offering here."

 

Respiratory diseases are the third leading cause of death in Kentucky overall and Grayson, Breckinridge and Edmonson counties specifically. Kentucky has one of the worst rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the country. COPD is a term referring to two lung diseases, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Both conditions cause obstruction of airflow that interferes with normal breathing and both frequently exist together.
 

"There are many conditions we can now treat even better with Dr. Gondal on staff," says Embry. "COPD patients will notice a difference right away."

 

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, COPD is preventable and treatable. COPD most often occurs in people age 40 and over with a history of smoking (either current or former smokers), although as many as 1 out of 6 people with COPD never smoked. Approximately 80 to 90 percent of COPD deaths are caused by smoking. Men and women smokers are nearly 12 and 13 times as likely to die from COPD, respectively, compared to those who have never smoked. spells, sometimes called "smokers cough", shortness of breath with normal activity and wheezing. When COPD is severe, shortness of breath and other symptoms can get in the way of doing even the most basic tasks, such as doing light housework, taking a walk, even bathing and getting dressed.

 

Dr. Gondal’s office is located in the Cave-Bland Medical Complex. His phone number is (270) 230-0286 and walk-ins are welcome.


Information on COPD comes from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. For more, go to http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/