Mining is a necessary process to retrieve the minerals and materials needed to keep the world functioning as we are accustomed. Coal and iron ore are among the top resources mined for by virtually every country in the world, ma...
Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency is a genetic disorder that manifests as lung, liver and/or skin disease. Specifically, the most common effects are emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with fewer patients experienc...
Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, a cancer that usually affects smokers, can cause an increase of calcium within the bloodstream. The high blood calcium level causes a variety of symptoms and happens because the cancer cells...
If you have a lung disease such as emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary rehab could help you breathe easier. During rehab, a team of doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists will teach you exercises t...
Pulmonary lung diseases make it difficult to breathe properly. Ranging from mild to chronic, all levels involve the lung airways or blood pathways becoming constricted due to a number of factors, including smoking and inhaling ...
Lung disease is a general term that describes numerous types of conditions that may damage your lungs. Commonly experienced lung conditions include asthma, influenza, bronchitis, and emphysema. Other more serious lung condition...
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a group of conditions affecting the lungs. It is sometimes referred to as chronic obstructive lung disease. The two hallmarks of COPD are emphysema and chronic bronchitis, but ...
Chronic bronchitis is typically part of the serious lung disease called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. Chronic bronchitis is caused by extensive exposure to substances that irritate the lining of the lungs, cau...
News reports of popcorn causing lung disease sent families scurrying to their cupboards in 2007 to check ingredients on popcorn labels. While the chemical in question -- diacetyl -- was in fact widely used in butter flavoring f...
If you have shortness of breath because of chronic lung disease, you might have problems maintaining adequate nutrition. With each breath, your diaphragm rises and falls, but a full stomach can hamper this cycle leading to incr...
Lung disease describes any condition that can affect your ability to breath or your respiratory system function. The most common forms are asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia and lung cancer. Your ab...
Lung disease is an umbrella term that refers to a few different conditions related to lung dysfunction. MedlinePlus notes that you breathe in and out about 25,000 times per day, filling your lungs primarily with oxygen and expe...
Using exercises of this type can help you maintain your vitality and counteract certain aspects of your condition, Individuals with lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and asthma will typically benefit ...
People with lung disease, medically referred to as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), have difficulty breathing. Lung disease includes emphysema, asthma and bronchitis, and is characterized by an increase in mucus pr...
Numerous herbs may help treat your lung disease. According to the American Lung Association, or ALA, there are many types of lung diseases, including asthma, lung cancer, influenza and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Lun...
Several lung diseases may be caused by protein-related problems. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, there are numerous types of lung problems that require the attention of a physician or other qualified hea...
Tuberculosis lung disease, also referred to as TB, is a bacterial infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis most commonly attacks the lungs, but can also affect the kidney, spine and brain. Acco...
The virus destroys the CD4+ white blood cells, and when enough of these cells have been destroyed, people develop AIDS and are subsequently susceptible to several lung diseases.
The doctor will note the rate and nature of breathing, whether it sounds smooth and easy, deep and labored or short and painful. Listening to the chest also proves a valuable indicator of lung health. The state of the surroundi...
The human body has several sites that contain fluid or have the ability to accumulate large quantities of fluid when afflicted by disease. The chest cavities surrounding the lungs and the abdominal cavity are good examples of t...
Acute exacerbation of chronic lung disease tends to occur in the context of a particular form of chronic lung disease called chronic obstructive lung disease, abbreviated as COPD. COPD is a lung disease that incorporates aspect...
Naming that disease by its primary cause is directly related to the symptoms and test results. For instance, circulatory lung diseases affect how the blood circulates through the heart and lungs. Occupational lung diseases ofte...
Nodules on the lungs occur even more frequently, appearing on as many as 51 percent of CT scans of smokers over age 50, lead author Heber MacMahon, M.B. of the University of Chicago states in the November 2005 issue of "Radiolo...
Many people may not realize the damaging effects excessive alcohol drinking can have on the lungs. The health hazards may become more pronounced for people who drink heavily and also smoke, increasing the risks of health diseas...
Lung granulomas are clumps of chronically inflamed tissue usually caused by a fungal or bacterial infection. They can also form due to noninfectious diseases, or from irritation of lung tissue by a foreign body. Granulomas cons...
Cystic lung disease encompasses a group of acquired and congenital disorders with distinct features but plenty of overlap among the disease characteristics. The term "cystic" refers to small lesions in the lung containing air o...
Breathing is both a controlled and automatic gesture. It is something often taken for granted until it becomes difficult to do. Some lung diseases are a result of poor lifestyle choices such as smoking, while others are an inhe...
Diseases that affect the lungs result in dysfunction or damage within the lung tissues. Lung diseases cause severe breathing difficulties and may affect the airways that help the lungs deliver oxygen into the bloodstream. Damag...
The most common species of Aspergillus that elicits ABPA is fumigatus, which is widespread in soils and decaying organic matter. "The Merck Manual" notes that ABPA occurs most often in asthmatics. Aspergillus fumigatus produce...
According to MedlinePlus, the website of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health or NIH, lung disease is any disease or condition that affects a person's lungs or impairs lung function. The t...
They also form to fight viral diseases and foreign substances. Granulomas are a form of inflammation which can result from a variety of lung diseases.
Numerous diseases affect the lungs' apex or upper lobes. According to the American Lung Association, the lungs are composed of distinct lobes and contain approximately three dozen distinctive cell types, each with its own speci...
Mucus acts as a protective barrier and filter by coating the lining of organs to trap foreign substances. When foreign substances become trapped in the mucus, they cannot invade the body and cause sickness. A number of lung di...
Lung disease can take several forms. The most common diseases fall into three categories: lung infection, such as pneumonia; lung cancer; or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, such as emphysema. When a patient presents with...
This can result in lung tissue damage and the development of symptoms such as shortness of breath. Merck.com further reports that more than 150 drugs or categories of drugs have been reported so far that can induce moderate to ...
There are numerous complications associated with lung disease. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health or NIH, millions of Americans have lung disease, and as a whole, lung disea...
Cigarette smoking significantly increases the risk for lung diseases. The chemicals found in cigarettes, including formaldehyde, lead and ammonia, are inhaled into the lungs, where they can cause damage.
Lung diseases are a common cause of death among Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, chronic lower respiratory diseases killed 127,924 Americans in 2007, and influenza and pneumonia ki...
The purpose of the lungs is to bring air into the body and allow for gas exchange. In the lungs oxygen is able to enter the bloodstream for delivery to the rest of the body. According to the National Institutes of Health, the b...
There are numerous diseases that affect the lungs. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health or NIH, the average person breathes almost 25,000 times each day, and if the various ty...
From the larynx, air moves into the trachea, which divides into a left and right bronchus, large tubes that supply the air to the lungs. Each bronchus further divides into smaller airways, called bronchi. The bronchi conti
The more compliant the lungs are, the more they are able to stretch in response to a force, and the lower the compliance, the less they stretch in response. Lung diseases that impair compliance stop the lungs from expanding as ...
Early coal miners’ disease was classified simply as pneumonokoniosis, according to a publication by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, but research has since revealed that there are several distinct r...
T lymphocytes are an essential component of cellular immunity, thus their depletion leaves the individual susceptible to numerous forms of cancer and foreign infectious agents. HIV positive people are at a significantly highe...
The blood picks up and deposits nutrients, hormones, antibodies, and waste products as well as oxygen throughout the body. The respiratory system also rids the body of the primary waste product, carbon dioxide. The blood carr...
The lungs are critical for taking in oxygen and transferring it into the blood. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also known as chronic obstructive lung disease, impairs the function of the lungs by making it harder for ai...
Because of the volume of air entering the lungs, they are susceptible to airborne diseases, transmitted through tiny droplets released by coughs and sneezes.
The bronchi branch into the bronchial tubes that branch further into a network of bronchioles. The bronchioles lead to over 600 million tiny elastic air sacs known as alveoli, as described by the Franklin Institute. Several lun...
The bronchioles connect to tiny elastic air sacs—alveoli—that function to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the blood in the surrounding capillaries. Degenerative lung diseases cause damage to the lungs that p...
Several diseases and disorders can affect the lungs, brought on by a wide variety of reasons. Whether a person works in an office, in a factory, or on a farm, he may be exposed to occupational hazards that can affect the respir...
Infectious lung diseases are defined as pathogen-caused illnesses that can be transmitted from person to person. They range in severity from mild to deadly, and while some are very common, others are quite rare. Vaccinations ha...
Blood vessels that line tiny sacs in the lungs called alveoli absorb oxygen that then travels through the blood stream to the body's tissues. Lung diseases disrupt the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. There are several di...
During inhalation, air flows through the trachea into the lungs, and tiny tissue sacs called alveoli absorb oxygen into tiny blood vessels and release carbon dioxide back in the lungs to be exhaled. There are multiple types of ...
According to the Cleveland Clinic, individuals exposed to occupational or environmental toxins are also more susceptible to lung disease.
These people have a greater risk of severe disease, including lung involvement.
While some autoimmune diseases attack a specific part of the body, many autoimmune diseases can attack several organs in the body. The lungs are one of the most commonly affected organs.
Each branch division gives rise to narrower airways, akin to branching tree limbs. The bronchi are the larger airways of the lungs. Infections, chronic inflammation, environmental inhalants, allergic disorders and inherited con...
The lungs are made up of a number of tissue types that facilitate inspiration, the transfer of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the air and the bloodstream, and expiration of carbon dioxide. Lungs connect to the windpipe, or t...
Acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, is a very serious lung disease with a high mortality rate. People with ARDS will have respiratory failure because the part of the lungs where oxygen leaves to enter the bloodstream ...
For a 24-hour period, 15 breaths per minute equal 21,600 times the lungs receive air, process it and expel carbon dioxide. In healthy lungs, this process occurs with minimal awareness. For people with diseased or damaged airway...
While very effective, it also causes side effects in a number of organs that must be monitored by a physician. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, major side effects tend to occur in the heart, liver, eyes, thyr...
Unusual respiratory symptoms should cause concern for everyone. Lung diseases include lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, lung infections, asthma and other respiratory disorders.
Obstructive lung disease makes breathing difficult and often gets progressively worse. People suffering from long-term coughing or mucus production may end up with chronic bronchitis. Destruction of the lung tissue over time ca...
Fungal or mycotic lung diseases are a growing public health concern. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that even previously harmless types of fungal organisms are beginning to create serious illness in thos...
A variety of genetic disorders can affect lung structure and function. The severity of these disorders depends on the degree to which lung function is impaired. Hereditary lung diseases such as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, c...
However, neither the body nor modern medicine can repair certain conditions and damage to the body. These diseases are incurable. Some incurable lung diseases, such as asthma, are manageable and usually do not affect longevity....
Obstructive lung disease, commonly referred to as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, or COPD, is a group of respiratory disorders which block airflow into the lungs and make breathing difficult. Disorders include emphysema...
Many causes of lung disease are known and can be prevented by avoiding irritants in the air, according to WomensHealth.gov, the website for the National Women's Health Information Center. Homes and offices may contain chemicals...
Obstructive lung diseases are those that cause reduced air flow due to temporary or permanent obstruction of the airways. The two primary types of obstructive lung diseases are asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (...
Genes, the basic unit of heredity, carry the sequences of deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) which is responsible for determining the characteristics a person will exhibit. The lungs are two organs found within the chest cavity tha...
The lungs are responsible for respiration, which is getting oxygen into the blood and removing carbon dioxide from the blood. The lungs are vulnerable to genetic defects, bacteria, viruses and air pollutants that can cause a va...
Because oxygen is vital for all cells to function in the body, the lungs perform an important function. The lungs are vulnerable to contaminants in the air, infectious agents such as bacteria and genetic defects, which can lead...
These terms describe a group of chronic lung disorders that ultimately result in damage to the alveoli, the tiny air sacs in the lungs responsible for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide with the blood, and the build-up o...
Pulmonary lung disease refers to disorders that obstruct the airways, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. These diseases fall under the category of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, a progressive disease t...
Air is inhaled, and the soft thin tissue of the lungs absorbs oxygen into the blood stream. Mucus is produced in the lungs, which traps particles and germs and are removed from the lungs by coughing. There are several lung dise...
Lung diseases and disorders are among the most common illnesses in the United States with millions affected, according to MedlinePlus, a website of the National Institutes of Health. There are many types of lung problems with a...
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disease that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Asthma and alpha-1 related emphysema are also categorized under the term COPD under certain circumstances. Sy...
Lung or respiratory diseases are a term used to describe a group of diseases that affect the normal functioning of the lungs. There are many different types of lung disease, but in general they produce similar symptoms such as ...
Obstructive lung diseases, according to their classification by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), include "any disorder marked by obstruction of conducting airways of the lung." These disorders "may be acute chronic, inte...
Pneumoconioses is the term used for all lung diseases that develop from inhaling dust or minerals for a long period of time. The most common pneumoconioses include asbestosis, black lung disease, berylliosis and silicosis. All ...
The lungs, along with the heart, sustain life with every breath. Hence, diseases of the lung are a serious health concern. Lung diseases can arise due to inflammatory, infectious, genetic and environmental causes. Accurate diag...
During inhalation, air flows into small sacs of thin tissue called alveoli that expand as air is inhaled. Small blood vessels in the alveoli called capillaries absorb the oxygen from the air, and the rest of the air exhaled. Th...
According to Pierre Theodore, M.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of California, although many of the congenital lung diseases will be noticeable early in a child's life, most of them will not be detected unt...
Many patients with lung diseases such as emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease find their symptoms are eased by breathing supplemental oxygen. This can pose a problem, however, for patients wishing to fly, as oxyge...
Every time a breath is taken, the lungs extract oxygen from the air and deliver it to the blood stream. There are many types of diseases that affect the lungs, some of them fatal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cancer (including lung cancer) is the second-leading cause of death in the United States and other respiratory diseases are the fourth leading cause of American...
Sarcoidosis, vasculitis and diffuse lung diseases all lead to inflammation. Sarcoidosis involves inflammatory cells that gather in the body. Vasculitis occurs when the blood vessels become inflamed, and diffuse lung disease lea...
There are many diseases that can affect the lungs. Infection, cancer, toxins, and genetic disorders are all agents of lung disease. Immunizations help prevent some diseases, antibiotics may help cure others, use of personal pro...
Inhaled air travels through the nose or mouth and into the lungs through the trachea (windpipe). The bloodstream transports oxygen-rich blood throughout the body from the lungs. Exhaled air removes carbon dioxide from the body....
This is because when it's cold outside, people remain in close proximity, sneezing and coughing indoors, which facilitates the viruses' transmission from person to person. Most viruses then cause an upper respiratory infection...
Sometimes tumors can form in the lungs or the blood vessels in the lung may malfunction. Bacteria, fungi and even parasites may infiltrate the lung, resulting in breathing problems and severe cough. There are many types of lung...
There are two primary functions of the lungs, the first is to absorb oxygen from the atmosphere, and the second is to discard carbon dioxide from the body. Classical diseases of the lungs can be divided into either obstructive ...
Sometimes, individuals are more susceptible to fungal lung infections if they live in a certain area of the country or have a weakened immune system in which the body can no longer fight off fungi and bacteria. A few types of f...
Infant lung diseases may cause a number of respiratory problems in newborns and infants, which may cause additional problems during childhood or adulthood. Infants born prematurely are particularly susceptible to developing lun...
Sometimes they can become inflamed or infiltrated with bacteria. When this happens, your airways may become constricted, severely compromising your ability to breathe. Lung diseases can prevent the body from receiving the oxyge...
For the millions of people diagnosed with a lung disease, each and every breath is difficult. A variety of lung diseases exist, some more common than others. However, if you were to combine them all, they would account for the ...
Inside the lungs, there is a series of tubes, starting with the trachea, that branch out into increasingly smaller airways all the way down to the alveoli, the microscopic pockets where oxygen exchange between the lungs and the...
A cough may be acute or chronic and accompanied by a fever, phlegm, unintentional weight loss and night sweats. Sometimes your cough can be productive of sputum or blood. Specific lung diseases are associated with this symptom.
Childhood lung diseases include a number of conditions in which the lungs do not function properly and breathing is impaired. Asthma, cystic fibrosis, influenza, pneumonia and other infections are common causes of childhood lu...
