Thankfully your lungs move air in and out of your body, providing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide from your blood, helping your body's systems function efficiently. Some of the diseases below make breathing extremely difficult, or in some cases nearly impossible without the proper treatment.

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Pulmonary diseases involve lung diseases or other lung problems such as:

•     Respiratory distress

•     Pulmonary edema

•     Pneumonia

•     Emphysema

•     Bronchitis

•     Asthma

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It is important to remember, Cigarette smoke either directly causes or further complicates every respiratory disease in the book. We can usually directly control our consumption and/or exposure to cigarette smoke.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevent (CDC) says tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable illness and death and produces 480,000 deaths a year (including deaths from secondhand smoke).

 

Asthma

Asthma is a chronic condition that causes difficulty breathing due to inflammation of the airways. Asthma symptoms include dry cough, wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath

Usually, asthma starts in childhood years and progresses into adulthood. However some people don't experience asthmatic symptoms until the latter stages of adulthood.  

 

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a catch all term that includes several respiratory illnesses that cause breathlessness, or the inability to exhale normally. People experience symptoms such as shortness of breath, and normally cough up mucus from the lungs. Symptoms are typically more sever in the morning.  COPD can be hard for many people to identify, because symptoms are usually mistaken for the normal aging process. In fact, COPD can develop over the course of several years without any symptoms of breathing problems. 

 

Treatment includes smoking cessation, bronchodilator therapy (medication that opens the airways) and pulmonary rehabilitation, which is a supervised exercise program for people with COPD. Unlike asthma, COPD is not reversible. According to the American Lung Association, COPD is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. 

 

Chronic Bronchitis

Chronic bronchitis is a form of COPD accompanied by a chronic cough.  Since chronic bronchitis is a form of COPD, it’s usually treated in the same manner. People can also develop acute bronchitis, which is not a long-term disease, but rather something that has been contracted from someone that is infected. It develops from a viral or bacterial infection and can be treated with antibiotics. 

 

Emphysema

Emphysema is a very serious respiratory disease, which is also another form of COPD. The most common cause is smoking, which again is very preventable. People that suffer from emphysema have trouble exhaling air from their lungs. Cigarette smoke damages the air sacs in the lungs to a point where they are irreparable.  There is no cure for emphysema. 

 

Lung Cancer

This form of cancer is difficult to detect. Most often, the cancer develops in the main part of the lungs near the air sacs.  Symptoms can take years to appear, but include things like uncontrollable coughing, changes in voice pitch,labored breathing sounds and coughing up blood. According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women in the U.S.

 

Cystic Fibrosis/Bronchiectasis

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic respiratory disease caused by a defective gene that creates thick and sticky mucus that clogs up tubes and passageways. This mucus causes repeat, and dangerous, lung infections, as well as obstructions in the pancreas that prevent important enzymes from breaking down nutrients for the body. According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, this disease affects 30,000 people in the U.S., 75 percent of which were diagnosed by age of two. Symptoms of cystic fibrosis include salty-tasting skin, chronic coughing, frequent lung infections and a poor growth rate in children. 

 

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is a common lung disease caused by an infection in the air sacs in the lungs. The infections can be bacterial, viral or fungal. Most people can recover in one to three weeks, but for certain people, pneumonia can be extremely serious and even life-threatening.

 

Symptoms, which include cough, fever, shaking chills and shortness of breath, can range from mild to severe. It’s really important for adults over 65 or those with other chronic disease to get the pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine. Additional suggested ways to prevent this respiratory condition include washing hands frequently and getting the flu shot.

 

Pleural Effusion

Pleural effusion is a collection of fluid between the lung and the chest wall in what’s called the pleural space. The fluid can collect for a variety of reasons, including pneumonia, cancer or congestive heart failure. Usually patients notice symptoms of increasing chest discomfort and shortness of breath. Patients with this diagnosis usually undergo a procedure to remove the fluid, which allows the lung to re-expand, allowing the patient to breathe better. Then, the fluid is tested to determine what’s causing it and a treatment plan is formed.