Respiratory & Pulmonary System

The main function of the respiratory system (also known as the pulmonary system) is to supply the body with oxygen and rid it of carbon dioxide. This process also removes metabolic wastes and maintains the pH balances of the body. The organs involved are the airways, lungs, and muscles that mediate the movement of air into and out of the body. When you breathe, air comes in through the mouth and nose. It passes through the larynx, also known as the voice box, and enters the chest cavity through the trachea. The trachea then splits into two tubes called bronchi, each of which leads into a lung. The airways become progressively smaller and at the end are small sacs known as alveoli, which are surrounded by capillaries. The oxygen from the air moves into the alveoli. Carbon dioxide moves through the same path in the opposite direction and is exhaled.

Asthma

Asthma is a disease that affects the tubes that bring air to and from the lungs, called airways. The airway tubes, the trachea, bronchi and bronchioles, are surrounded by muscles that can contract, narrowing the tubes and thereby making it difficult to breathe. An asthma attack is an acute narrowing of the tubes in response to exposure to an allergen (like pollen, dust and animal dander), an irritant (like cigarette smoke, pollution and cold air) or even just exercise. When the airways become inflamed, they can also swell and aggravate or sensitize the person to asthma. It is not clear as to what causes people to be prone to asthma, but heredity and environmental factors play a role. According the NIH, nearly 22.9 million people have asthma.

Bronchospasm

Bronchospasm is characterized by difficulty breathing due to the sudden constriction of the bronchi or bronchioles in the lungs. The constriction causes the airways to narrow and mucous production to increase, reducing the flow of air into the lungs and oxygen available to the body, which causes breathlessness, coughing and hypoxia. Bronchospasm usually accompanies asthma, chronic bronchitis, anaphylaxis and as a side effect of the drugs such as Pilocarpine or even aspirin.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a lung disease in which the lung is damaged, making it hard to breathe. In COPD, the airways that carry air in and out of your lungs become partially blocked, making it difficult to get air in and out. COPD is a major cause of death and illness throughout the world. According to the NIH, it is the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S. and the world.

Cough

Coughing is the body's way of removing foreign material or mucus from the airway tubes. Coughs have distinctive traits that can be recognized. A cough is only a symptom, not a disease and often the importance of the cough can be determined only when other signs and symptoms are evaluated.

Cystic Fibrosis(CF)

Cystic fibrosis is a hereditary disease that mainly affects the lungs and digestive system, causing progressive disability and for some, early death. Formerly known as cystic fibrosis of the pancreas, this entity has increasingly been labeled simply "cystic fibrosis." Average life expectancy is around 37 years, although improvements in treatments mean a baby born today could expect to live longer.

CF is caused by a mutation in a gene called the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). The product of this gene is a chloride ion channel important in creating sweat, digestive juices and mucus. Although most people without CF have two working copies of the CFTR gene, only one is needed to prevent cystic fibrosis. CF develops when neither gene works normally. Therefore, CF is considered an autosomal recessive disease. The name “cystic fibrosis” refers to the characteristic “fibrosis” (tissue scarring) and cyst formation within the pancreas, first recognized in the 1930s.

Difficulty breathing and insufficient enzyme production in the pancreas are the most common symptoms. Thick mucus production as well as a less competent immune system results in frequent lung infections, which are treated, though not always cured, by oral and intravenous antibiotics and other medications. A multitude of other symptoms, including sinus infections, poor growth, diarrhea and potential infertility (mostly in males, due to the condition Congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens) result from the effects of CF on other parts of the body. Often, symptoms of CF appear in infancy and childhood; these include meconium ileus, too many people fail to thrive and recurrent lung infections.

Cystic fibrosis is one of the most common life-shortening, childhood-onset inherited diseases. In the U.S., 1 in 3900 children is born with CF. It is most common among Europeans and Ashkenazi Jews; one in twenty-two people of European descent carry one gene for CF, making it the most common genetic disease among such people. About 30,000 people in the United States have the disease.

Emphysema

Emphysema is a chronic lung disease most often caused by prolonged exposure to toxic chemicals and/or tobacco smoke. It is characterized by the loss of elasticity of the lung tissue, destruction of structures supporting the alveoli (the air sacs at the end of the airways) and destruction of blood capillaries feeding the alveoli. As a result, the small airways collapse during expiration and air gets trapped in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath on exertion, hyperventilation (to get more oxygen into the lungs) and an expanded chest.

Lung Damage

Patients are often placed on high concentrations of oxygen in order to maintain proper levels of the gas in their blood. Long-term exposure to high concentrations of oxygen is toxic and can lead to decreased lung function, respiratory failure and even death. Oxidant exposure is just one of the causes of a spectrum of lung injuries that are known collectively as ARDS; other injuries that can cause this condition include trauma, infection, drug overdose, metabolic disorders and inhaled toxicants.

Nasal Congestion

Nasal congestion is a congested nose and sinuses or obstruction of the nose.

Pulmonary Embolism

Pulmonary embolism is the blockage of a pulmonary artery in the lungs by a blood clot (thrombus), fat, air or tumor cells. The most common form is a blood clot which originated as a deep vein thrombus and traveled through the veins and right heart into the lungs. Most patients are diagnosed through pulmonary angiopathy and CT scans. Symptoms include difficulty breathing, pain during breathing and circulatory instability. The National Institutes of Health estimated at least 100,000 cases of PE occur each year in the United States.

Pulmonary Fibrosis

Pulmonary fibrosis is an inflammatory lung disorder characterized by abnormal formation of fibrous tissue (fibrosis) between the tiny air sacs (alveoli) or ducts of the lungs, which affects the lungs’ ability to move oxygen into the bloodstream. Currently in the U.S. there are over 200,000 patients with pulmonary fibrosis, though the number is probably much higher due to misdiagnosis.

Pulmonary Hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension is high blood pressure in the arteries to the lungs. It is a serious condition for which there are treatments but no cure. If one has it, the blood vessels that carry oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs become hard and narrow. The heart has to work harder to pump the blood through. Over time, the heart weakens and cannot do its job and one can develop heart failure.

Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is a breathing problem that sometimes affects babies born about 6 weeks or more before their due dates. Their lungs aren't developed enough to make surfactant (sur-FAK-tant). Surfactant is a liquid that coats the inside of the lungs and keeps them open so that the baby can breathe in air once he or she is born. Without surfactant, the lungs collapse and the baby has to work hard to breathe. The baby might not be able to breathe in enough oxygen to support the body's organs. Most infants who develop RDS show signs of breathing problems at birth or within the next few hours. If they're not given the right treatment, their brains and other organs may suffer from the lack of oxygen. It affects about 10 of every 100 premature infants in the United States, or about 40,000 babies, each year.

Respiratory Syncytal Virus

A paramyxovirus that forms in the tissue culture and is responsible for severe respiratory diseases, such as bronchopneumonia and bronchiolitis in children and especially in infants.