Lung disease – types, prevention

Proven content

Lung disease is a concept that covers many diseases of various etiology, course and prognosis. The most important lung diseases are lung cancer, tuberculosis, asthma and pneumoconiosis. In the prevention of such ailments, it is important to limit contact with substances in the form of cigarette smoke and coal dust.

What is Lung Disease?

Lung diseases are a variety of disease entities caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi, as well as genetically determined ones, such as cystic fibrosis, and ending with lung cancer, which is the main cause of death in cancer patients.

The most common lung diseases

The most important lung diseases are:

1. acute diseases, i.e. mainly infectious diseases: pneumonia caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa and tuberculosis
2. lung cancer
3. chronic diseases in the form of emphysema, interstitial diseases such as pneumoconiosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, sarcoidosis, allergic alveolitis (can also occur as an acute form), and most of all chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Chronic diseases are characterized by progressive disturbance of lung ventilation and gas exchange, manifested by various degrees of dyspnea and tissue hypoxia. There are two mechanisms for these disorders:

1. obstructive, when as a result of chronic inflammation the lumen of the bronchi narrows, which hinders the act of exhalation (COPD)
2. restrictive when fibrous tissue spreads in the space between the alveoli, which leads to a reduction in the flexibility of the lung tissue and a reduction in the respiratory capacity of the lungs (interstitial diseases).

How do you recognize individual lung diseases?

Determining the type of disorders is possible thanks to spirometry, which is the most frequently performed respiratory function test in children and adults. This examination requires very good cooperation of the patient, so it is worth getting acquainted with its principles and course in advance.

Characteristics of the most important lung diseases

1. Pulmonary tuberculosis – is an infectious disease caused by infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A healthy person is considered to be the source of infection, for example when he coughs removes these mycobacteria from his body. In a healthy human body, mycobacteria do not give any symptoms, and pathogens are located in the lungs. It may happen that the infected person does not realize that they have bacteria in their body throughout their life and only when their immunity is weakened do they reactivate and lead to the development of tuberculosis.

2. pneumoconiosis – is a lung disease caused by dusts of silicon, coal or asbestos inhaled by humans (e.g. in miners or in steel industry workers). Then they pass through the respiratory tract to the alveoli where they settle and stimulate the fibrosis of the lung parenchyma. This results in irreversible changes in the lungs. Treatment of pneumoconiosis is primarily symptomatic.

3. Lung abscess – characterized by the presence of a certain area filled with pus in the lung tissue. The cause of this ailment may be bacteria from cariously changed teeth entering the lungs; complication after pneumonia; getting stomach contents into unconscious people; a growing cancerous tumor.

4. Asthma — it is a very common chronic inflammatory disease of the lungs. It is manifested by abnormal airflow through the respiratory tract, accompanied by shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing. Asthma can be allergic and non-allergic. Symptoms of the former occur in people who are allergic to certain substances, e.g. food. In turn, the non-allergic form of asthma occurs in stressful situations or after taking a specific preparation, e.g. acetylsalicylic acid.

5. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – is a chronic bronchitis accompanied by emphysema. Smoking is believed to be the most important cause of this disease. Patients with COPD develop chronic sputum cough and shortness of breath. Unfortunately, the development of the disease can lead to unpleasant complications, such as pulmonary hypertension, which in turn causes respiratory failure and heart failure.

6. Cystic fibrosis – is a genetic disease of the lungs caused by a defect in the protein (chloride channel), which prevents the exocrine glands (e.g. in the liver and pancreas) from functioning properly. Symptoms of cystic fibrosis mainly concern the digestive and respiratory systems – impaired exocrine glands in the pancreas and those in the wall of the airways produce an excess of sticky secretion, which in turn causes obstruction of the bronchi and exhaust ducts, and consequently pneumonia and pancreatic insufficiency.

7. Lung cancer – Lung cancer is divided into tumors: primary (formed in the lungs, such as small cell cancer treated with chemotherapy and non-small cell cancer treated with surgery or radiotherapy); secondary (commonly known as metastases) and cancers of the blood and the lymphatic system (rarely primary). Metastases occur in malignant neoplasms, especially of the breast, bones and large intestine.

Lung disease – prevention

In the prevention of chronic lung diseases, it is very important to limit contact with toxic substances such as:

1. tobacco smoke,
2. coal dust,
3. silica fume.

Hypersensitive people must avoid contact with allergens contained in rotten hay, bird droppings, animal hair, which cause the two most common forms of allergic alveolitis: bird farmer’s lung and farmer’s lung. Educational programs are a very important element in the fight against lung diseases, which should be addressed mainly to children and adolescents. It is necessary to inform about the harmfulness of nicotism from the preschool years.

med. Aleksandra Czachowska