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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Prevention and Risk Factors
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues
• Specifics
• Genetics

See, Play and Learn

• Videos and Tutorials

Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Women
• Patient Handouts

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)
• Lungs and Respiratory System (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Bronchoscopy and Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) (National Library of Medicine) 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
• Pulse Oximetry (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Spirometry (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Tests for Lung Disease (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish
• Warning Signs of Lung Disease (American Lung Association)

Prevention and Risk Factors

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

Treatments and Therapies

• Chest tube insertion - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Chest Tube Thoracostomy (American Thoracic Society) - PDF
• Long-Term Control Medications for Lung Diseases (National Jewish Health)
• Lung Disease Treatments (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
• Pulmonary lobectomy - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Quick-Relief Medications for Lung Disease Symptoms (National Jewish Health)
• What Is a Ventilator? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish

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
• Understanding Exercise, Diet and Lung Disease (National Jewish Health) - PDF

Related Issues

• Air Pollutants (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Inhaled Marijuana and the Lungs (American Thoracic Society) - PDF Also in Spanish
• Mold Allergy: Proper Humidifier Care (National Jewish Health)

Specifics

• About Adenovirus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• About Histoplasmosis (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)
• Hyperinflated Lungs: What Does It Mean? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Lung Nodules: Overview (National Jewish Health)
• Pulmonary Edema (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• What Is Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

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 (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)

• Article: Key Amniotic Fluid miRNAs as Promising Target Molecules for the Antenatal...
• Article: Association between serum cystatin C and chronic lung disease in middle-aged...
• Article: Analytical validation of total mucin concentration assay using SEC MALLS dRI...
• Lung Diseases -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• How the Lungs Work (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish

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 (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Meconium Aspiration Syndrome (MAS) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Pulmonary Function Testing in Children (American Thoracic Society) - PDF
• Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
• Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn (TTN) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• What Are Newborn Breathing Conditions? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
• Your Lungs and Respiratory System (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

• Lungs and Respiratory System (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Women

• What Is LAM (Lymphangioleiomyomatosis)? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish

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