Lung diseases are medical conditions, sometimes hereditary, in which the function of the respiratory system is affected. This may happen due to damage to the lungs themselves, the respiratory tract or the system in general. Most lung diseases are chronic and some are incurable, but all of them can be treated and the symptoms alleviated.
The air we breathe carries with it a variety of pollutants that can harm the respiratory tract. Therefore, various lung diseases, which are not the result of a hereditary burden, are caused by pollutants that enter the body through the air, consciously or unconsciously. These pollutants may be the products of smoking – active or passive, air pollution, viruses and bacteria, dust and more.
What common lung diseases are important to know?
Damage to the function of the respiratory system may be manifested in the narrowing of the airways, a decrease in lung capacity or a loss of lung flexibility. Now we will review what those common diseases are, how they affect the respiratory system, and what are the methods of treating them:
COPD
This is a group of chronic lung diseases that create lasting damage to parts of the respiratory system. COPD is known as a disease of people who smoke and its position is third in the list of common causes of death in the world. Passive smoking, exposure to dust particles and air pollution, construction work and cooking over an open fire for years may also cause the disease.
The diseases included in the COPD group are different conditions in which shortness of breath is felt on exertion, as a result of the system’s difficulty in bringing about normal gas exchange in the lungs. The cough, like the difficulty in breathing, gets stronger over the years.
The treatment of COPD is first of all the cessation of smoking and the beginning of the rehabilitation of the lungs under medical supervision. From here on it is a bar of treatments starting from an inhaler, through antibiotic treatment to a lung transplant, depending on the severity of the disease.
cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a hereditary disease that affects the function of the lungs and pancreas, i.e. – the respiratory system and the digestive system. It is a disease that erupts only in the event that both parents are carriers of the gene, and with a probability of 0.25 for a sick child, in a way that can be diagnosed by a simple blood test. Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are regularly at risk of dehydration due to fluid loss, and this is because the genetic defect disrupts the body’s absorption capacity. The patient’s airways are blocked due to secretions that the body does not absorb, therefore the entire respiratory system is subject to infections, inflammations and lasting damage.
It is true that this is an incurable disease, but there are methods to minimize the damage to the respiratory and digestive systems, among them respiratory physiotherapy, dietary adjustment, inhalation, pulmonary drainage and transplants.
asthma
The known disease is actually a chronic inflammation that affects the diameter of the airways. The inflammation that develops following exposure to various pollutants such as dust mites or other particles, causes the airways to swell and consequently become narrower. Such a situation leads to an asthma attack in which there is difficulty in breathing, pressure and pain in the chest area, coughing and wheezing. The attacks may be mild or extremely severe and make it difficult to lead a normal and safe life. To treat asthma, an inhaler is used that contains compounds aimed at re-expanding the airways.
Pneumonia
Our lungs consist of two main parts called lung nadis, into which we inhale the air we breathe. When one or both of the nadia are damaged by an infection from viruses or bacteria in the air, we may get pneumonia. The symptoms of the inflammation are largely reminiscent of the symptoms of the flu, while inflammation is a more prolonged and even more painful and dangerous condition. A simple examination by a doctor can confirm the presence of inflammation in the lungs, but sometimes a chest X-ray is also necessary. There is a vaccine for this disease that is given to an elderly population group or at risk of chronic diseases, and it is usually treated with antibiotics.
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