Worldwide, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the number-one cause of death and illness, according to the Mayo Clinic. COPD is a group of diseases that leads to irreversible lung damage. Everyone loses some lung function and capacity during...
The medical term for a collapsed lung is atelectasis. Part or all of your lung can collapse due a blockage in the lung cavity that prohibits the lung from expanding as you inhale. Your lung can also collapse if there is a hole in the lung that...
Black lung, also known as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, describes a lung disease caused by the inhalation of coal dust or graphite. Initially, coal dust in the lungs causes few problems. Over time; however, the dust accumulates in the lungs,...
A collapsed lung is a serious condition as it prevents oxygen from being properly absorbed into the blood. A collapsed lung, also known as a pneumothorax, can involve the collapse of part of a lung or can involve the whole of one lung. When a lung...
Lung puncture--also referred to as pneumothorax or a collapsed lung--can occur when your chest sustains severe trauma, such as a rib fracture or knife wound. Such injuries cause air to abnormally collect around the lungs. When this happens, the...
Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer-related deaths, according to The Merck Manuals, an online medical encyclopedia. This type of cancer occurs when cancerous cells form within the delicate tissues of the lungs. Patients who develop...
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 (COPD). Both diseases...
Lung cancer can develop within the airways, or bronchi, within the lungs, or in the air sacs that facilitate oxygen transfer from the air into the bloodstream. In it’s early stages, the cancerous tumor remains situated within one region of...
The National Cancer Institute estimated that breast cancer would lead to over 190,000 new cases diagnoses and over 40,000 deaths in the United States in 2009 alone. Breast cancer develops from mutated cells within any of the tissues of the breast,...
Lung cancer begins in the tissues of the lungs. According to 2007 information from the American Medical Association, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, and smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer. It is...
Lung cancer accounts for approximately 15 percent of all cancers in the U.S., according to meds.com. Because it can spread throughout the body during its early stages, it is important to educate yourself about the signs and symptoms of stage one...
Cigarette smoking is the most common cause of lung cancer and results in the common early symptom of persistent coughing, according to the Merck Manuals. Primary lung cancer starts in the lung cells and may develop in airways attached to the...
Sometimes the immune system perceives a threat and reacts in a variety of ways. A respiratory or lung allergy causes symptoms directly reflected in how a person breathes. Pollen, a major trigger for asthmatics, stimulates white blood cells to...
In smokers, symptoms of lung cancer may be more difficult to notice than in nonsmokers. Smokers are used to coughing, having shortness of breath at times, and being susceptible to viral or respiratory infections. Lung cancer does not usually show...
Cancer of the lungs occurs when cancerous cells begin to grow within the delicate lung tissue or along the airway passages. Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, accounting for the deaths of nearly...
Small-cell lung cancer is a fast-growing cancer of the lung that spreads quickly. Most cases of SCLC are caused by smoking. SCLC often starts in the breathing tubes in the center of the chest, then rapidly spreads to other parts of the body (such...
Lung problems occur when diseases affect the airways leading to the lungs, called the bronchi, or the lungs themselves. The disease can be an infection, an allergic response, a mass or other condition. Many lung diseases do not initially present...
In 2009, over 200,000 people were diagnosed with lung cancer--a type of cancer that affects the delicate tissues of the lungs and airway passages, explains the National Cancer Institute (NCI). People who smoke are at the highest risk of developing...
Lung cancer evolves in different ways depending on the patient and the type of cancer. Many patients do not develop any symptoms, reports the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Prevention. 25 percent of cases do not develop any symptoms until the...
Lung cancer is an insidious disease and initial diagnosis is often based on incidental radiographic findings with few obvious symptoms. However, symptoms that tend to raise suspicion in patients and cause them to initially suspect pathology start...
Lung cancer strikes down more people---men and women---globally than any other type of cancer. In the United States alone, one out of every 14 individuals will develop this disease. Of those, less than one-half will survive the first year, and...
There are several lung diseases classified as interstitial lung disease, the Mayo Clinic states. While there may be strong differences between them, the common result is lung tissue scarring that is irreversible. These types of disease can occur...
A cough is a normal bodily reflex that occurs when airways are exposed to an irritant such as pollen or mucus. A cough may be acute or chronic and accompanied by a fever, phlegm, unintentional weight loss and night sweats. Sometimes your cough can...
For the cells in your body to work and grow properly, they need oxygen. This is delivered to them through the bloodstream, and is obtained through every breath you take. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), you take an average of...
Early symptoms of lung disease may start gradually and grow progressively worse, according to Lab Tests Online, the website for the American Association of Clinical Chemistry. Unusual respiratory symptoms should cause concern for everyone. Lung...
The National Institutes of Heath states that two forms of lung cancer exist: nonsmall cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common form of lung cancer, with symptoms including incessant coughing,...
Cancer of the lung kills more people than any other type of cancer, and has been known to kill more people than prostate/colon/breast cancer combined. Although smoking cigarettes is a risk factor, many non-smokers have this deadly condition. Lung...
Lung cancer is often not diagnosed until it is too late to be cured. However, there are some signs and symptoms of lung cancer that can help doctors detect the disease early so that prompt treatment can be given. These signs and symptoms affect...
The majority of lung cancer patients are diagnosed with non-small cell lung carcinoma. This disease grows more slowly than small cell lung cancer, but it has spread to other parts of the body by the time 40 percent of people with the disease are...
