The 3 Diseases That Most Affect the Lungs

The Diseases That Most Affect the Lungs that everyone should know. Furthermore, the  Lung is the largest of the vital organs and as delicate as any other. But due to its exposure characteristics to the most diverse aggressors present in the environment, it requires a lot of attention, which is not always the case. Smoke, dust, chemicals, bacteria, germs, viruses. There are many threats suspended in the air we breathe, not to mention the internal dangers, such as poor blood circulation, incorrect breathing and other tacts. Thus, taking good care of the Lungs can seem like a very difficult task. In fact, it is and it isn’t.

First of all, the ideal is not to think of any organ as something isolated, independent of the others. Health must be treated globally, which also includes external factors such as food and the environment we live in, especially when it comes to Lungs . After all, the fewer aggressors are inhaled, the more protection. Those who adopt healthy habits, especially staying far away from cigarettes, the biggest cause of lung diseases, are already taking a very big step to avoid many diseases. Knowing the threats, knowing how to avoid them or at least recognizing the symptoms is another important factor. It is, of course, at the slightest sign of something out of the ordinary, look for a pulmonologist, who is the most suitable doctor to treat lung diseases. So, check out now  The 3 Diseases that Affect the Lungs the most.

Prevent:  In addition to vaccination, some care helps prevent respiratory diseases .

• Maintain healthy eating;
• Practice regular physical activity according to age;
• Avoid risky behaviors, such as smoking and alcoholism;
• Do not allow upper respiratory conditions such as rhinitis , sinusitis , pharyngitis , colds and flu to progress without treatment;
• Avoid thermal shock (it is not the cold that is bad, but changing from a very cold environment to a very hot one and vice versa);
• Wash your hands well and do not share utensils;
• If you catch a cold, use disposable tissues;
• In air-conditioned environments or with low humidity, keep your nose well hydrated;
• Drink lots of water always.

Pneumonia:  One of the big problems when talking about respiratory diseases is that the symptoms, in general, are very similar. Pneumoniais perhaps the clearest example of this . It is quite common for a person to go to a doctor thinking he has just a cold or a “ poorly cured flu ” and when he hears the diagnosis he is scared: it is pneumonia . And the scare has reasons to be, because the reputation of the disease is not the best. But how do you know if that cough or other malaise could be pneumonia ? “Medicine is not engineering, there is no cake recipe, but there are classic manifestations. The most common of pneumoniait is a compromised general condition, productive cough , that is, with secretion, with purulent, yellowish or greenish phlegm, high fever, above 38.5 degrees.

The patient may also have chest pain and present a high degree of tiredness and difficulty breathing”. However, these symptoms do not always manifest themselves or other, different ones appear. “Symptoms vary according to the infectious agent, the patient and the area of ​​the lung affected. But it is important to remember that this disease can have a very rapid evolution. The person is fine, but within a few hours the infection sets in and symptoms appear quickly. You need to seek medical attention as soon as possible.”

It is Avoidable:  Although it does not protect against all causative agents, vaccination is an effective means of preventing pneumonia . The first doses are given to younger children, but adults can also get the vaccine, in private clinics. It protects against 23 types of pneumococcus, the most common cause of the disease. Getting vaccinated against the flu also helps especially the elderly, as it is possible for the flu to evolve into pneumonia . “The flu makes the person weaker, compromises the immune system .

This allows the bacteria that cause pneumonia to proliferate. When it ran flu vaccination campaigns , the government actually wanted to prevent people from getting pneumonia , which for the elderly is a terrible complication. The mortality from pneumoniaamong the elderly is much higher. Already in the treatment, it is done with antibiotics (in case of infection by bacteria) allied to the orientation so that the person stays well hydrated, control the fever and elimination of secretions. “It also depends on the affected area, whether one or more lung lobes, whether there was associated pleural effusion, whether one or both lungs were affected, and the general condition of the patient. From this, it is defined whether the treatment can be done in hospital or at home. In any case, this patient should be assisted and guided by a pulmonologist”.

COPD:  The acronym stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases and it says it all, it is not one, but several diseases, which have in common the fact that they obstruct breathing. They are emphysema, asthmatic bronchitis and chronic bronchitis . The main cause is smoking (an estimated 15% of smokers develop COPD), but not the only one. Symptoms can range fromchronic cough to dyspnea, popularly known as shortness of breath. And this is one of the biggest dangers for smokers, who attribute the first to the so-called “smoker’s throat clearing” and the second to aging and lack of physical preparation. In addition, most smokers take a long time to seek medical attention, when the problem has already become difficult to reverse. Therefore, it is always important not to underestimate achronic cough or tiredness, especially those who smoke.

It is medical consensus that all people who have smoked for more than 10 years should undergo an annual exam, as the only way to prevent the disease from getting worse is to detect it in the initial phase, when not in the case of major lesions in the Lung . The test is called spirometry and measures the amount and evaluates the flow of air in and out of the lung .
Treatment is always medicated and depends on tests to assess the stage of COPD, which ranges from 1 to 4, one of which can be treated by a general practitioner, without hospitalization. From 2 onwards, only a specialist should take care of the case. Surgical procedures and Lung transplantation are not ruled out when the disease is very severe and the patient no longer responds to available medications.

Tuberculosis:  Another lung disease that requires a lot of care is tuberculosis, caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis or Koch’s Bacillus. Unfortunately, Brazil is part of a group of 22 countries responsible for 90% of cases of the disease worldwide. Although there is a vaccine against the disease (the famous BCG, mandatory for children up to one year of age), the immunization is only valid for a period of 10 to 15 years. And therein lies one of the problems, there is no effective vaccine for adults. And as the transmission of the bacteria is by direct route, from person to person, through saliva, prevention is difficult. Contact with the bacillus, however, does not mean that the person will develop the disease, since the organism can eliminate it.

The infection can happen without showing symptoms, until it is in a more advanced stage. However, in most cases the patient presents an initial condition with continuous dry cough, which gets worse with the presence of secretion that, in most cases, progresses to coughing with pus or blood. Other symptoms: excessive tiredness, low fever (usually in the afternoon), night sweats, lack of appetite, pallor, accentuated weight loss, hoarseness, weakness and prostration. The treatment is based on antibiotics and is quite effective, however, it takes at least six months, which leads to the dropout rate and the consequent return of symptoms.
cough? Redouble Attention:  It is common for people to think that coughing is a problem and look for mechanisms to simply stop coughing. This happens a lot with children, as parents, in general, are very uncomfortable to see them coughing, especially at night. “ Coughing protects the Lungs against foreign substances in the airways. When there is any aggression to the airways, be it an infection, inflammation due to asthma, smoke inhalation, strong smells, etc., the body reacts by coughing”. In general, milder aggressions produce a drier cough , while the one with secretion occurs when there is an infection. “In infectious cases, the bronchial wall produces more mucus, which is eliminated with coughing .. Generally, when this secretion has bacteria it has a yellowish or greenish color, cases that often require the use of antibiotics in the treatment”, he adds. So, what really matters is not distinguishing one cough from the other. “The cough means there is something wrong, that is, it is drier productive, or not. It is not normal to cough. When this happens continuously, one should seek to clarify the reason. And I need to treat what caused it, as it is a symptom and not a problem.”