Causes and Effects of Lung Disease

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Causes and effects of lung disease Pulmonary tuberculosis: The main type of lung disease that affects up to 30% of the world’s population is pulmonary tuberculosis. This is caused by one of two bacteria both of which are shaped like a rod. The first is called ‘Mycobacterium tuberculosis’ and the second ‘Mycobacterium bovis.’These bacteria are transmitted in air droplets dispersed in a cough/ sneeze of an infected person. Also living in close proximity to people with the disease, a bad diet and living with poor sanitation can help transmit the disease. People with weaker immune systems i.e. young children, older people or people with aids are more likely to contract the virus and feel its symptoms as their immune systems are not strong enough to handle the bacterium. This means they would feel the primary infection whereby the bacteria grow in the upper lung region where there is a large oxygen supply and cause inflammation of the lymph node. This can cause persistent coughing, tiredness, loss of appetite and when it becomes serious a fever and coughing up blood. People with more advanced immune systems however could be a victim of ‘Post primary tuberculosis.’ Their body may have fought the bacteria off once however some live bacteria may have survived and later on in life it affects the top part of the lungs however is harder to control. In this area of the lung they destroy the tissue and when it is repaired there are scars left. This then leads to coughing up off this dead tissue, the bacteria and blood. The symptoms are also the same as they would be in primary tuberculosis. Pulmonary fibrosis: When scars form on the epithelium of the lungs it makes them irreversibly thick. This reduces their elasticity meaning that less gas can be taken in and it is more difficult to expel it. Also the thickness of the alveoli increase the diffusion path way meaning the

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