Topic: Disorders of Respiratory system

I. Asthma

• Def­i­n­i­tion: A chron­ic res­pi­ra­to­ry con­di­tion char­ac­ter­ized by dif­fi­cul­ty in breath­ing.
• Cause: Inflam­ma­tion of the bronchi and bron­chi­oles (small­er air­ways in the lungs).
• Symp­toms:
  • Wheez­ing
  • Short­ness of breath
  • Chest tight­ness
  • Cough­ing
• Mech­a­nism: Inflam­ma­tion nar­rows the air­ways, mak­ing it hard­er for air to flow in and out of the lungs.
• Trig­gers: (Vary wide­ly)
  • Aller­gens (pollen, dust mites, pet dan­der)
  • Infec­tions
  • Exer­cise
  • Cold air
  • Smoke
  • Stress

II. Emphysema

• Def­i­n­i­tion: A chron­ic, pro­gres­sive lung dis­ease.
• Cause: Dam­age to the alve­o­lar walls (tiny air sacs in the lungs respon­si­ble for gas exchange).
• Effect: Decreased res­pi­ra­to­ry sur­face area, lead­ing to reduced oxy­gen uptake and dif­fi­cul­ty breath­ing.
• Major Cause: Cig­a­rette smok­ing.
• Oth­er Caus­es:
  • Genet­ic fac­tors
  • Long-term expo­sure to air pol­lu­tants
• Mech­a­nism: Destruc­tion of alve­o­lar walls leads to larg­er, less effi­cient air spaces, reduc­ing the lungs’ abil­i­ty to trans­fer oxy­gen into the blood­stream.

III. Occupational Respiratory Disorders

• Def­i­n­i­tion: Lung dis­eases caused by inhal­ing dust, fumes, or oth­er irri­tants in the work­place.
• Spe­cif­ic Exam­ple: Grind­ing and stone-break­ing indus­tries gen­er­ate sig­nif­i­cant dust.
• Body’s Defense Mech­a­nism:
  • Res­pi­ra­to­ry sys­tem has nat­ur­al defens­es to trap and remove inhaled par­ti­cles (e.g., cil­ia, mucus).
• Prob­lem: In heav­i­ly pol­lut­ed envi­ron­ments, these defens­es can be over­whelmed.
• Con­se­quences of Long Expo­sure:
  • Inflam­ma­tion
  • Fibro­sis (pro­lif­er­a­tion of fibrous tis­sue)
  • Seri­ous lung dam­age
• Fibro­sis: Scar­ring of lung tis­sue, mak­ing it stiff and less elas­tic, fur­ther impair­ing breath­ing.
• Pre­ven­tion: Pro­tec­tive masks for work­ers in high-risk indus­tries are cru­cial.
• Oth­er Exam­ples:
  • Expo­sure to asbestos
  • Expo­sure to sil­i­ca
  • Expo­sure to coal dust
  • Expo­sure to var­i­ous chem­i­cals