My son has asthma and my brother died,as a baby, with pneumonia. I also had pneumonia when I was a baby and have allergies which affect my lungs. These are the only occurrences of lung problems I know of in our families. The West connection was on my father's side. His mother, a Cartwright was descended from Edward Cartwright who married Ruth West in 1740. Maybe it would have been worse if the West had been a male, or for all I know, the tendancy for lung problems is 100% environmental in my case. Just a thought. Susan [email protected]