Lung Diseases

On this page

Summary

When you breathe, your lungs take in oxygen from the air and deliver it to the bloodstream. The cells in your body need oxygen to work and grow. During a normal day, you breathe nearly 25,000 times. People with lung disease have difficulty breathing. Millions of people in the U.S. have lung disease. If all types of lung disease are lumped together, it is the number three killer in the United States.

The term lung disease refers to many disorders affecting the lungs, such as asthma, COPD, infections like influenza, pneumonia and tuberculosis, lung cancer, and many other breathing problems. Some lung diseases can lead to respiratory failure.

Dept. of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health

Start Here

Lung Disease (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health) Also in Spanish
Lungs and Respiratory System (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

Bronchoscopy and Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
Chest CT Scan (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish
Chest MRI (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
Chest X-Ray (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish
Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) Isoenzymes Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
Lung Function Tests (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
Needle Biopsy of the Lung (American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
Spirometry (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
Warning Signs of Lung Disease (American Lung Association)
What is Bronchoscopy? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish
What Is Thoracentesis? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Prevention and Risk Factors

Protect Yourself: Respirators (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) - PDF

Treatments and Therapies

Chest tube insertion - slideshow (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Chest Tube Thoracostomy (American Thoracic Society) - PDF Also in Spanish
Long-Term Control Medications for Lung Disease Symptoms (National Jewish Health)
Pulmonary lobectomy - slideshow (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Quick-Relief Medications for Lung Disease Symptoms (National Jewish Health)

Living With

Breathing and Relaxation (National Jewish Health)
Oxygen Therapy: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
Pulmonary Rehabilitation: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
Pulse Oximetry (American Thoracic Society) - PDF Also in Spanish
Understanding Exercise, Diet and Lung Disease (National Jewish Health) - PDF
What Is a Ventilator? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Related Issues

Lung Disease Including Asthma and Adult Vaccination (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
Mold Allergy: Proper Humidifier Care (National Jewish Health)
Particle Pollution (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Smoking Marijuana and the Lungs (American Thoracic Society) - PDF Also in Spanish

Specifics

Adenoviruses (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Anti-GBM (Goodpasture's) Disease (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
Coughing up Blood (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
Histoplasmosis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Hyperinflated Lungs: What Does It Mean? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
Lung Nodules: Overview (National Jewish Health)
Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
Pulmonary Edema (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Genetics

Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
lymphangioleiomyomatosis: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
primary ciliary dyskinesia: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Videos and Tutorials

Breathing (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Gas exchange (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Your Lung Operation: After Your Operation (American College of Surgeons)

Statistics and Research

Lung Diseases (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences)

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Lung Diseases (National Institutes of Health)
ClinicalTrials.gov: Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Reference Desk

How the Lungs Work (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Find an Expert

American Lung Association
Lung HelpLine and Tobacco QuitLine (American Lung Association)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Children

Adenovirus (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Meconium Aspiration (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Pulmonary Function Testing in Children (American Thoracic Society) - PDF
Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn (TTN) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Your Lungs and Respiratory System (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

Lungs and Respiratory System (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Women

LAM (Lymphangioleiomyomatosis) (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Patient Handouts

Alveolar abnormalities (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Blood gases (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Breath sounds (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Chemical pneumonitis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Chest tube insertion (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Coughing up blood (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Lung disease (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Lung PET scan (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Pulmonary edema (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Pulmonary function tests (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Solitary pulmonary nodule (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish