Respiratory Disorders
Overview
The respiratory system is the system responsible for providing oxygen, and removing carbon dioxide from the blood, via breathing air in and out. Many diseases can attack the respiratory system, and the common ones are listed below:
- Asthma
- Emphysema
- Tuberculosis (TB)
- Sarcoidosis
- Pneumonia
- Lung cancer
Causes
All diseases have different causes, such as infections are caused by specific bacteria, some respiratory disorders are caused by smoking, and some have a genetic background.
Symptoms
The symptoms of respiratory organ disorders can be listed as the following:
- A cough that doesn’t go away
- Coughing up blood, even a small amount
- Painful coughing
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Hoarseness
- Losing weight without trying
- Bone pain
- Chest pain under the rib cage
- Rare lumps of tissue under the skin on your
- External deformities of the chest
- Fever with or without night sweats
Diagnosis
After an adequate medical history has been taken, the following tests can help confirm the diagnosis of respiratory organ disorders:
- Chest X-ray
- Chest CT scan
- Sputum culture
- PET scan
- Sputum cytology
- Neoplastic tissue biopsy
Treatment
Treatment depends on the specific cause:
- Infections – antibiotics
- Cancer – chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery
- Asthma – corticosteroids
- Sarcoidosis – anti immune medication
