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Respiratory diseases affect the respiratory system and include lung diseases, such as asthma and COPD, as well as upper respiratory tract infections like the common cold. Lung disease is the third leading cause of death in the US.
Respiratory means “of, having to do with, used or influenced breathing, and comes from the Latin word meaning “to breathe”. A respiratory disease is a disease that affects the respiratory system. They can also be called “respiratory diseases”.
One group of diseases that falls under the category of respiratory diseases is the group that could be termed lung diseases. Lung disease includes a variety of problems, some of which are contagious and some of which are not. Either way, lung disease can make breathing difficult. As a group, lung disease is the third leading cause of death in the United States.
Subcategories of respiratory diseases include acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), respiratory failure caused by fluid buildup in the lungs; asthma, a chronic condition in which the airways can narrow; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a group of diseases in which airflow is blocked, including bronchitis, an inflammation of the lining of the bronchial tube, and emphysema, a condition in which the bronchioles become destroyed one of two types of lung cancer, small cell lung cancer or non-small cell lung cancer; pneumonia, an inflammation of the lungs that can be caused by bacteria, fungi, parasites, or viruses; tuberculosis, an infectious disease that ranges from asymptomatic to fatal; and whooping cough, a severe infection characterized by a cough with a distinctive breath after it. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a contagious respiratory disease of the lungs that was fatal for ten percent of people who contracted it, first appeared in November 2002 in China, has spread worldwide in six weeks and became virtually unknown after 2004.
Another group of diseases that falls under the category of respiratory diseases are upper respiratory tract infections (URIs). These include infections of the nose, throat and sinuses, most of which are caused by viruses. Those caused by bacterial infection may require specific therapy. Diseases of the nose include rhinitis and nasopharyngitis, another name for the “common cold”. Infections of the throat, uvula and tonsils are called pharyngitis. Laryngitis is an infection of the larynx, while sinusitis is an infection of the sinuses and tracheitis is an inflammation of the trachea. Epiglottitis, one of the most serious, is an infection of the upper larynx and supraglottis.
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