Lung diseases are some of the most common medical conditions in the world. Tens of millions of people have lung disease in the U.S. alone. Smoking, infections, and genes cause most lung diseases. Your lungs are part of a complex system, expanding and relaxing thousands of times each day to bring in oxygen and send out carbon dioxide. Lung disease can happen when there are problems in any part of this system.
When you breathe, your lungs take in oxygen from the air and deliver it to the bloodstream. The cells in your body need oxygen to work and grow. During a normal day, you breathe nearly 25,000 times. People with lung disease have difficulty breathing. The term lung disease refers to many disorders affecting the lungs, such as asthma, COPD, infections like influenza, pneumonia and tuberculosis, lung cancer, and many other breathing problems. Some lung diseases can lead to respiratory failure.
Lung disease is any problem in the lungs that prevents the lungs from working properly.
1. Chronic bronchitis
This form of COPD brings a long-term wet cough.
2. Acute bronchitis
This sudden infection of your airways is usually caused by a virus.
3. Asthma
Our airways are constantly inflamed and may spasm, causing wheezing and shortness of breath. Allergies, infections, or pollution can trigger asthma symptoms.
4. Emphysema
This happens when the fragile links between alveoli are damaged. Smoking is the usual cause. (Emphysema also limits airflow, affecting your airways.)
Lung damage allows air to be trapped in your lungs in this form of COPD. Trouble blowing air out is its hallmark.
5. Cystic fibrosis
With this condition, you have trouble clearing mucus out of your bronchi. This leads to repeated lung infections.
6. Tuberculosis
An infection of your alveoli, usually by bacteria or viruses, including the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
7. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
With this lung condition, you can’t exhale the way you usually would, which causes trouble breathing.
8. Lung cancer
It has many forms and may start in any part of your lungs. It most often happens in the main part of your lung, in or near the air sacs.
9. Pulmonary edema
Fluid leaks out of the small blood vessels of your lung into the air sacs and the area around them. One form is caused by heart failure and back pressure in your lungs' blood vessels. In another form, injury to your lung causes the leak of fluid.
The signs and symptoms can differ by the type of lung disease. Common signs are:
Experts don't know the causes of all types of lung disease, but they do know the causes of some. These include:
Air pollution: Recent studies suggest that some air pollutants like car exhaust may contribute to asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and other lung diseases.
Radon: This colorless, odorless gas is present in many homes and is a recognized cause of lung cancer. You can check for radon with a kit bought at many hardware stores. Radon can be reduced in your home if you find out there are high levels.
Smoking: Smoke from cigarettes, cigars, and pipes is the number one cause of lung disease. Don't start smoking, or quit if you already smoke. If you live or work with a smoker, avoid secondhand smoke. Ask smokers to smoke outdoors. Secondhand smoke is especially bad for babies and young children.
Asbestos: This is natural mineral fiber that is used in insulation, fireproofing materials, car brakes, and other products. Asbestos can give off small fibers that are too small to be seen and can be inhaled. Asbestos harms lung cells, causing lung scarring and lung cancer.
Things you can do to reduce your risk of lung diseases include:
It’s not common, but it can happen. For some of these people, breathing in secondhand smoke may be a culprit, or there may be genetic or environmental causes, such as if you work with asbestos or are exposed to high levels of radon over a long time.
Smoking tobacco is the biggest risk. Smokers who use one pack of cigarettes per day for 40 years are 20 times more likely to get lung cancer or die from it than people who don't light up. Secondhand smoke is also linked to the disease. Other risk factors are exposure to asbestos, radon gas, air pollution, and having had radiation therapy before.
The best way to prevent it is to avoid smoking and to avoid breathing in other people's fumes. If you smoke, work on quitting, even if you’ve tried before. After 10 years, an ex-smoker lowers their risk of lung cancer anywhere from 30% to 50%. You’ll also get many other health benefits for your heart and the rest of your body.
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