Lung diseases can range from benign to fatal and are classified into three categories: obstructive, restrictive, and defects in air sac tissues. Smoking is a main cause of obstructive diseases.
The lungs are an important part of the human body and are responsible for supplying oxygen to the bloodstream while removing carbon dioxide. Lung diseases can be classified as a series of disorders that cause the lungs to no longer function normally. These diseases and their severity can range from benign, which do not cause harm, to those which can be disabling or even lead to death.
There are three main categories of lung disease. The first of these is obstructive pulmonary disease, which occurs when exhaled airflow from the lungs is decreased because the airways have become blocked or decreased in size. The main symptom is shortness of breath and examples include asthma and chronic bronchitis. One of the main causes of this type (and many others) is smoking, which can also be one of its main preventive measures when the smoker quits.
Restrictive lung disease is associated with a decrease in the capacity of the volume of air the lungs can hold. The lungs are quite elastic and these types of diseases can occur when this elasticity decreases. There may also be problems related to chest wall expansion that cause these diseases. In both of these cases, it becomes difficult for the lungs to supply the body with the amount of oxygen it needs. Common examples are interstitial lung disease and extrapulmonary restrictive lung disease.
The last category of lung disease is caused when there are defects in the tissues of the air sacs of the lungs, and this decreases the amount of oxygen the lungs are able to supply to the bloodstream. In most cases, it is a combination of these three categories that causes the lungs to malfunction, for example in emphysema. Other common types include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis, and sarcoidosis.
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