Lung Disease and What Causes Them?

Respiratory conditions affect the lungs and the health of the respiratory system. The respiratory system is made up of the air sacs, airways, and lungs. The major parts of the respiratory system include the nose, mouth, trachea (windpipe), bronchi (airways that branch into smaller and smaller branches), and alveoli (small sacs of tissue in which gas exchange takes place). Doctors use the phrase lung disease or respiratory disease to describe the many different conditions that affect the respiratory, or breathing, system.

Lung disease types

Lung disease can be classified into three main categories, each affecting the lungs differently:

Airway diseases: People with respiratory problems can find it difficult to breathe because of reduced airflow in and out of their lungs.

Lung tissue diseases: These conditions make it difficult for the lungs to work properly and diffuse oxygen from the airways into the bloodstream.

Lung circulation diseases: These conditions affect the way blood flows from the heart to the rest of the body in order to deliver oxygen to the organs and tissues.

Most common lung diseases fall into one or more of these three categories. Some of the most common diseases include:

• asthma

• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

• bronchiectasis

• bronchitis

• pulmonary fibrosis

• sarcoidosis

• hypertension

• lung cancer

• pneumonia

• pulmonary edema

• pulmonary embolus

• influenza

Causes of lung disease

There are several causes of lung disease. Smoking, the main cause of lung disease worldwide, is the leading cause of preventable death. Other causes include asthma, tuberculosis, and pneumonia.

Tobacco smoking is the major cause of lung cancer and other chronic respiratory diseases. It also causes heart attacks and strokes. Smoking has a major impact on health worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that tobacco kills nearly 6 million people annually.

Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body, including your lungs, heart, blood vessels, brain, liver, kidney and eyes.

The damage caused by smoking is often irreversible. The sooner you quit smoking for good, the greater your chances of living a longer and healthier life.

As if smoking weren't enough to worry about, secondhand smoke may be even more dangerous than regular cigarette smoke. Secondhand or environmental smoke contains many of the same toxic chemicals as regular cigarettes but it also contains some cancer-causing chemicals not found in regular cigarette smoke.

Reference link: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/types-of-lung-diseases#summary