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Secondhand Smoke and Lung Cancer
Secondhand Smoke and Lung Cancer
Yellow nail syndrome
Yellow nail syndrome
Respiratory system
Respiratory system

Lung disease
Definition:

Lung disease is any disease or disorder characterized by impaired lung function. There are three major physiologic categories of lung diseases:

1. Obstructive lung disease, defined as a decrease in the exhaled air flow caused by a narrowing or obstruction of the airways, such as with asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.

2. Restrictive lung disease, defined as 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 or compliance of the lungs themselves or a problem in the expansion of the chest wall during inhalation.

3. A defect in the ability of the lung air sack tissue to promote the diffusion of oxygen into a person's blood. Most lung diseases actually involve a combination of these categories, such as emphysema, which is typified by both airflow obstruction and oxygenation problems.

Major lung diseases include:


Other lung diseases include:

This is not a complete list of lung diseases.



Review Date: 2/1/2001
Reviewed By: Darrell N. Kotton, M.D., Boston University Pulmonary Center, Boston University Medical Center, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.
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