Types Of Lung Disease

What are the Types Of Lung Disease? There are various types of lung disease some of which are very chronic leading to higher death rates in most parts of the world. It has made most governments to spend large amount of money in both treatment and sensitizing the general public.

The lung, as an excretory organ, plays a very significant role in the exchange of carbon dioxide ( CO_2 ) and oxygen (_ O__2). This makes the lung a very important organ as cell respiration can only be possible with the presence of oxygen. Various types of lung disease make it nearly impossible for a proper gaseous exchange.

These types of lung diseases can be divided into:

• Airway diseases
• Lung circulation diseases
• Lung tissue diseases

Airway diseases

Patients with these types of lung disease have breathing difficulty due to the either blocked or narrowed blocked airways. A good number of lung diseases always affect the airway. These diseases include chronic bronchitis, asthma etc. Depending on the types of lung disease, patient will have different signs and symptoms besides suffering from their severe effects. For instance;

Asthma, one of the most common types of lung disease, makes the airways to be very sensitive to any flow of air in and out of the lungs. Resulting to severe breathing problems as it causes inflammations along the air track. This reduces the diameter of the air track give rum for only small quantity of air to flow through to the lungs. Most patient suffering from asthma will always find difficulty in breathing in either very early in the morning or at night.

The symptoms of these types of lung disease include hissing sound when breathing while at times they may cough. They also experience chest tightness among other breathing difficulty problems. With good control and regular medical check-up, patients suffering from asthma can also live a normal life.

The other common type of lung disease which affects the airway is the bronchitis. It is characterized by inflammations along the tubes leading to the lungs. It majorly caused by smoke, air pollutions, gastroesophageal reflux disease amongst other factors.

Patients suffering from these types of lung disease will always cough, produce wheezing sound at times, experience fatigue, and have shortness of breath, chest pains amongst other symptoms which vary from individual to individual.

These types of lung disease exist in two forms; the chronic and the acute bronchitis. The distinguishing factor among these two types of lung infections depends on the time period. That is, patients with acute bronchitis take a very short period of time after which they heal while patients suffering from chronic bronchitis remain in the same state for more than two months or one year.

Lung circulation diseases

These types of lung blocks blood vessels and hence hindering proper blood flow within the lungs. This is due to the clotting of blood or inflammations which occur within the blood vessels. These types of diseases lower the efficiency at which exchange of gases take place. In most cases, they also affect the heart which can lead to death.

Lung tissue disease

This major affects the contraction and expansion of the lungs. This leads to change in the lung structure since the performance of the lungs depend on the contraction and expansion of the lung muscles, it makes breathing more difficult making exchange of gases difficult as well. An example of this type of lung disease is the pulmonary fibrosis.

The other types of lung disease fall among the three categories mentioned above e.g. conditions such as pneumonia. If the lung cannot perform optimally then one of its components is affected either its tissue, circulatory system or airway.