RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DISORDERS SBI 3C: DECEMBER 2010

COMMON COLD/INFLUENZA:  Infection of respiratory tract  Mild discomfort  Congestion due to production of mucus which stimulates cough to clear contaminants from airways  Can be treated with antibiotics if bacterial

BRONCHITIS:  Inflammation or swelling of bronchi and bronchioles  Can be caused by viral or bacterial infection or by chemical irritants (smoke)  Results in production of excess mucus  Causes narrowing in airways making breathing and gas exchange more difficult

PNEUMONIA:  Lung infection caused by virus, bacterium or fungus that leads to accumulation of fluid in lung  Symptoms:  Cough, chest pain, difficulty breathing  Leading cause of death in young, old and chronically old

ASTHMA  Involves inflammation of bronchi and bronchioles  In response to:  Allergic reaction  Exercise  Cold air  Causes excess mucus production, airways narrow  Asthmatics take inhalers that deliver corticosteroids to lungs and cause bronchi and bronchioles to open

PNEUMOTHORAX (COLLAPSED LUNG):  The space between the wall of the chest cavity and the lung itself fills with air, causing all or a portion of the lung to collapse  Air usually enters this space, called the pleural space, through an injury to the chest wall or a hole in the lung  Leads to severe oxygen shortage, low blood pressure, and cardiac arrest unless treated

PNEUMOTHORAX/COLLAPSED LUNG:  Risk Factors:  Tall males, especially smokers, are characteristically at a higher risk of spontaneous pneumothorax  Traumatic pneumothorax occurs either because a hole in the chest wall, such as a stab wound or gunshot wound, allows air to enter the pleural space, or because of injury to the lung

SMOKING AND LUNG CANCER:  Leading cause of cancer death in Canada  Smoking is responsible for 87% of all lung cancers  Each year 330 nonsmoking Canadians die from lung cancer due to secondhand smoke  Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the world

SMOKING AND LUNG CANCER:  Begins in the cells of bronchi or bronchioles  Smoke travels to bronchi and bronchioles and irritates cells  Cells produce excess mucus to trap foreign particles  Chemicals in smoke stop cilia from beating and removing contaminants from lungs  Tar and toxic materials become trapped in mucus and can cause mutations in cells  Mutated cells grow uncontrollably resulting in cancerous tumor  When smokers quit their respiratory system improves immediately and risk of developing cancer and other smoking- related diseases decreases over time