Lung Diseases: An Overview

With each breath, the lungs take in oxygen from the air and pass it into the bloodstream. The body's cells need that oxygen to work and grow. On a normal day a person breathes nearly 25,000 times.

People with lung disease have trouble breathing. Millions of people in the United States have one, and if every type is counted together, lung disease is the third biggest killer in the country.

The term covers many disorders of the lungs, including:

• asthma
• COPD
• infections such as influenza, pneumonia and tuberculosis
• lung cancer
• many other breathing problems

Some lung diseases can lead to respiratory failure.

Sources

• MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, "Lung Diseases," from the Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health. https://medlineplus.gov/lungdiseases.html
• Rewritten in hubnx's own words.