Lungs

Lungs are, without doubt, one of the most vital organs that we have. It allows us to breathe and helps oxygen be delivered to the blood, which then goes to each cell and tissue group.

However, lung infections and disorders are common. Depending on what sort of issue you have, the problem is curable within a few weeks or months. Some issues like lung cancer, asthma, or COPD can be very severe and may not be curable too if detected too late.

Often, during such cases, the doctors aim to keep the patient under management remedies to control and confine the issue.

In this post, we are going to describe lung disorders and infections, check out their cause and symptoms, and also tell you about the different modes of cure.

Lung Infections

Lung infections mostly occur because of harmful microbes that infect the lungs. It may also occur because of different allergic triggers. Most lung infections are curable even if severe, even though they may need a longer time.

Let us have a brief look at some of the common types of lung infections-

➯ Pneumonia

This is the inflammation affecting the air sacs that occurs because of different harmful microbes, such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. The common issues someone will face are chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing.

➯ Bronchitis

It affects the bronchial tubes, and it is a range of viruses that mostly cause this infection.

➯ Tuberculosis

This is a form of bacterial infection that affects your lungs. Often, such patients can encounter severe coughing with blood coming out. It also leads to signs of night sweats and loss of weight.

➯ Influenza

This is a form of viral infection that affects the lungs and may often lead to other respiratory problems as the infection spreads.

A Look At Some Lung Diseases

So far, in the above section, we gave you an idea about some lung infections. However, some disorders could also affect the lungs. In this section, we are going to check out the types of diseases that affect your lungs.

➯ Asthma

Asthma is a common lung issue that affects people of all age groups. It is a form of autoimmune condition that mostly occurs because of an overworked immune system.

Patients can often face this issue with little to no sign, even moments before the symptoms begin to strike slowly. Some of the common signs will be.

• Wheezing
• Coughing
• Tightness of the chest

To date, doctors and medical experts do not have a permanent, simple remedy for asthma. Of course, there is use of inhalers, but these only help reduce the symptoms and alleviate the signs of the asthma issue.

➯ COPD

Often having very similar features to asthma, people get confused between COPD and asthma based on the symptoms. Even in this issue, you are going to have blocked airflow to the lungs and have difficulty breathing normally.

As per doctors and health experts, it often affects people who are heavily addicted to smoking. It can also occur in people who are already affected with some form of other lung issue, like emphysema or severe bronchitis.

➯ Pulmonary Fibrosis

This is the issue where the pulmonary air sacs and the lung tissues begin to form scars. Since the effective airflow for trapping oxygen is reduced, people often have difficulty breathing with this lung disease.

➯ Lung Cancer

Just like cancer affecting other parts of the body, the lung is no exception. In addition, guess what, lung cancer is often one of the most severe types of cancer. To give you an idea, in simple words, it occurs when a group of cells inside the lung tissues suddenly abnormally reproduces at a high rate. Usually, malignant tumors form here, and they spread to the other sections of the body through the blood.

Cause Of Lung Disorders

Depending on the type of lung infection and disorder you have, there are many reasons for it. Let us give you a brief idea about some causes of lung disorders and infections-

• Exposure to allergens, which often cause signs of asthma and COPD, but also cause many infections.
• Smoking, which can lead to bronchitis, COPD< or even lung cancer.
• Polluted air containing dust, heavy metals, and toxic gases.
• Other particles are present in the air, such as fumes of coal tar, asbestos dust.
• Genetic disorders often cause cystic fibrosis.

Symptoms Of Lung Disorders

• Coughing
• Shortness of breath
• Wheezing
• Chest tightness
• Chest pain
• Fatigue
• Loss of weight
• Swelling of ankles and feet

Diagnosis For Lung Disorders

At first, the aim of the doctors is to listen to the different symptoms and signs that the patient reports. Based on this, it can give vital clues, and the doctors can do some specific lab tests to confirm the issue.

However, in some cases, the symptoms can be too generic and do not lead to any specific lung problems. In these cases, the doctors can do different types of tests, such as

• X-rays of the chest
• CT scan of lungs
• Spirometric tests
• Lung volume tests
• Pulse oximetry
• Arterial blood gas test
• Exercise stress test.
• Blood tests
• Lung biopsy
• Pleural fluid test

Cure For Lung Disorders And Infections

Treatment methods often are based on the type of lung issue, whether it is only an infection or a disorder, and how severe it is. In case you are suffering from other health issues, the doctors have to match remedies to avoid affecting other disorders.

Here is a list of some of the common cures for lung diseases and infections-

• Rehabilitation programs that include exercise, training, and breathing techniques
• Use of medicines from bronchodilators to anti-cancer pills, in other cases, antibiotics or antivirals to cure lung infections
• Oxygen therapy, where oxygen is given to the lungs.
• Lung transplant, where the affected lung is replaced with a healthy lung.
• Chemo and radiation therapy are generally given in the case of lung cancer.

Final Thoughts

Therefore, as you can see in this article, we have given you a fair bit of information about different lung infections and disorders. We have tried to emphasize the symptoms, methods of diagnosis, and give a general idea about some common ways to cure the issues.