Lung infections can be bacterial or autoimmune in nature, often requiring specific dietary and medical interventions. Understand the procedures and side effects involved in chronic lung treatment.
Pulmonary nodules are round spots less than 3 cm in diameter, or a little over 1 inch. Seen in the lungs on chest X-rays or CT scans, pulmonary nodules appear on around one in 500 X-rays, the University of Rochester reports.
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Air hunger is one of the most distressing of all medical symptoms. Patients who can't derive enough oxygen from the air they breathe typically suffer from this symptom. Oxygen therapy involves supplying an increased concentration of oxygen to the lungs, helping alleviate breathlessness.
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An autoimmune disorder is an illness in which the body begins to attack its own healthy cells, producing inflammation and an overproduction of collagen, a naturally occurring protein that helps make up connective tissue and maintain skin elasticity.
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Lungs are paired, spongy organs that allow you to breathe. The term chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, refers to numerous lung diseases, including emphysema, refractory asthma and chronic bronchitis. Other conditions that can affect your lungs include lung cancer, lung injuries and cystic fibrosis.
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Mucus is a thick fluid secreted by mucus cells that are located in various organs. Mucus acts as a protective barrier and filter by coating the lining of organs to trap foreign substances. When foreign substances become trapped in the mucus, they cannot invade the body and cause sickness.
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Bronchial washing is part of a procedure called a bronchoscopy, in which a physician looks into the lungs with a fiber-optic bronchoscope to check for irregularities and take tissue samples. The physician injects saline through the bronchoscope into the lung and then suctions it back out.
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Lung infections can be bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic and can range from minor to life threatening. As with other sources of infection, bacteria can cause inflammation in the lungs -- pneumonia -- or in the trachea and its branches -- bronchitis, although most cases of bronchitis tend to be viral (2, 3, 4).
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