Lung diseases and respiratory problems

Oh dear, have you caught a cold? A lot of people think that you "catch cold" from being cold. But that's not correct. You get "a cold" because you've caught a cold virus in your body. The virus is spread when you sneeze or cough, sending droplets filled with virus spraying into the air.

If you breathe in droplets with virus, you might become infected. When the body is infected by a cold virus, the mucous membranes swell and form more nasal mucus and phlegm than usual. Anyone who's caught a cold is better off resting, simply because so doing gives the body's immune system the best possible conditions to heal the infection. A cold sometimes might lead to bacterial inflammations linked to the nose and throat. A normal cold almost always heals by itself in about a week.

But some infections in the respiratory system might become dangerous if not treated. One of these infections is tonsillitis. Tonsillitis might come from either virus or bacteria. The bacteria that cause tonsillitis are called streptococci. If you catch tonsillitis, your tonsils get inflamed and swollen.

Sometimes you get a yellow-white coating or yellow spots in your throat, and often a high fever. Mostly your body can heal the tonsillitis by itself, but if you're ill for a long time and have spots in your throat you should see a doctor to get antibiotics. If not, the tonsillitis might lead to more severe illnesses. But hold on Lina. It might not be tonsillitis you've caught.

Pneumonia is usually caused by bacteria or viruses that have managed to bypass the wind-pipe's protective mucous. The bacterium causing more than half of pneumonia cases is called pneumococcus. If bacteria reach the lungs, they attack the alveoli, causing them to fill up with fluid and function less well. You can't breathe as well as you should any more. Pneumonia causes high fever, coughing, and chest pains.

This is a serious disease that can be fatal if it's not treated with antibiotics. Oh come on Lina: you don't have pneumonia. The mucous in your wind-pipe and throat is a part of your body's protection against particles and damaging substances. But sometimes things that cause infections still manage to bypass the mucous. And pollen can sneak into the body by this route, to pester those allergic to it.

Pollen allergics, in addition often suffer from asthma. If you have asthma; your bronchi are constantly inflamed - sometimes a lot, sometimes a little - but this inflammation never fully heals. A disease that never heals, or lasts at least three months is called a chronic disease. Asthma is a chronic disease that never passes, and makes you more vulnerable - among other things - to: tobacco smoke, exhaust fumes, or cold, dry air. In an asthma attack, mucous membranes swell and muscles around the bronchi cramp.

This makes it difficult for air to pass through the bronchi: it becomes hard to breath. Inhaling asthma medicine from an inhaler can relieve the swelling and widen the bronchi. Ah Lina, you don't have asthma. Leave the inhaler for the ones who need it. Tuberculosis, or TB, is a disease in the lungs caused by an airborne bacterium.

Most people infected by this bacterium don't become ill. We say the bacteria lie dormant or latent in the body. As long as the bacteria stay latent, they're not harmful. But if the disease breaks out, it's very dangerous. You'd get chest pains, a bad, persistent cough; and cough up mucus mixed with blood.

Tuberculosis is widespread in parts of Africa and Asia, but rare in the rest of the world. There is a vaccine against Tuberculosis; but if you have become ill from the disease you must take various kinds of medicine for at least six months. Lung cancer is a common form of cancer. Smoking is the most common cause of lung cancer. Those who have lung cancer get a dry, mucus filled cough, and sometimes cough up blood.

If possible the lung cancer tumours are surgically removed, and chemotherapy treatment follows. Radiation treatment of the lungs is also used. If the lung cancer is not treated it will cause death. But that is not for you to worry about Lina. All you have is a cold.