Lung disease can affect the ability to breathe, potentially causing short-term or long-term harm to overall health.
According to statistics, about 45% of all diseases fall on the lungs and bronchi.
Among the most common diseases:
Trachéites;
Bronchitis;
Bronchial asthma;
Abscess;
Pneumonia;
Tuberculosis;
Lung cancer;
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).
Diseases of the respiratory tract cause discomfort not only to the patient himself but also to others who can hear wheezing, coughing, snoring.
If you or your loved ones have characteristic symptoms, you should not postpone the solution of the problem “for later”.
It is necessary to determine the cause of these phenomena to start treating the disease in time and not provoke complications.
Lung diseases: symptoms and signs
If even minor symptoms occur, you should visit a doctor, as early detection of the disease can improve treatment outcomes and potentially save lives.
Here are some threatening signs of lung disease that you should pay attention to:
- Severe cough.
As a rule, a normal cough as a result of a cold gradually disappears within a maximum of 2 weeks.
But if the symptoms of cough are stable and there are no signs of a decrease in their severity, you should contact a pulmonologist.
- In more serious cases, the cough may be accompanied by the discharge of sputum with blood.
This indicates damage to the airways, which may be caused by the patient’s geographically high location, medication, the cough itself, or lung cancer itself.
It should be noted whether such problems arose after a person encountered a potential trigger in everyday life.
For example, if he has been spending more time with smokers lately.
Informing the doctor about any lifestyle changes will be useful in identifying the source of the problem;
- Shortness of breath.
If sudden shortness of breath is not associated with obesity or heart problems, it may indicate bronchial asthma or COPD.
According to experts, this can also be an early sign of lung collapse, airway obstruction, pneumonia, the presence of a thrombus in the artery of the lung, etc.
If the sound when breathing seems unusual, resembling a whistling noise (high whistling sound), there is a possibility - of inflammation, tumor or even a foreign object blocking the respiratory tract;
- Pain in different parts of the body.
Haunted by a constant feeling of fatigue?
You should pay close attention if it does not go away after taking some measures and is accompanied by pain.
For example, pulmonary fibrosis can affect body tissues, leading to muscle and joint pain.
Lung cancer is associated with back pain, which is exacerbated by a deep breath and is noted even at rest.
This pain often spreads to other parts of the body and affects areas of the chest and shoulder.
When lung cancer is the cause of chest pain, discomfort can result from enlarged lymph nodes or metastases in the chest wall, pleura, or lungs.
