Lung disease
Overview
Illustrations
HEALTH GUIDE REFERENCE FROM A.D.A.M
Definition
Lung disease is any disease or disorder where lung function does not work properly. There are three main types of lung disease:
- Obstructive lung disease -- a decrease in the exhaled air flow caused by a narrowing or blockage of the airways, which can occur with asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.
- Restrictive lung disease -- a decrease in the total volume of air that the lungs are able to hold. Often, this is due to a decrease in the elasticity of the lungs themselves or caused by a problem related to the expansion of the chest wall during inhalation.
- A defect in the ability of the lung's air sac tissue to move oxygen into a person's blood.
Most lung diseases actually involve a combination of these categories, such as emphysema, which involves both airflow obstruction and oxygenation problems.
Major lung diseases include:
- Asthma
- Chronic bronchitis
- COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
- Emphysema
- Interstitial lung disease
- Pulmonary fibrosis
- Sarcoidosis
Other lung diseases include:
- Asbestosis
- Aspergilloma
- Aspergillosis
- Aspergillosis - acute invasive
- Atelectasis
- Eosinophilic pneumonia
- Lung cancer
- Metastatic lung cancer
- Necrotizing pneumonia
- Pleural effusion
- Pneumoconiosis
- Pneumocystosis
- Pneumonia
- Pneumonia in immunodeficient patient
- Pneumothorax
- Pulmonary actinomycosis
- Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis
- Pulmonary anthrax
- Pulmonary arteriovenous malformation
- Pulmonary edema
- Pulmonary embolus
- Pulmonary histiocytosis X (eosinophilic granuloma)
- Pulmonary hypertension
- Pulmonary nocardiosis
- Pulmonary tuberculosis
- Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease
- Rheumatoid lung disease
Review Date: 11/13/2006
Reviewed By: David A. Kaufman, M.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.
Reviewed By: David A. Kaufman, M.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.
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