Lung Diseases,

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2019 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Lung Diseases, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Lung Diseases)

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiolographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiolographical account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Lung Diseases

My lungs Breathe hard

Bring air to every part

Even if your air tubes are narrow

And the breath is shallow

As long as oxygen reach my cell

I shall still live my tale to tell

The dust from tiny fibers in the air

Has damaged my tube’s inner lining and tiny hair

Tiny hairs that used to push dust and germs away

Are no longer moving and stuck in the clay

Of mucus, fibers, dust and dirt

How my air tubes really hurt

Each breath seems to be the last

Saved by the pressurized oxygen fast

Corticosteroids help to heal the scars

And bronchodilators help to expel the dust

Thank God for the new drugs

Temporarily removing those plugs

To my breathing and wheezing

At least I am still living

-An original poem by Kenneth Kee

The Lungs

The lungs comprise a pair of air-filled organs situated on either side of the chest.

The windpipe brings inhaled air from the nose or mouth into the lungs through its tubular branches called bronchi.

The bronchi then separate into smaller and smaller branches (bronchioles) finally becoming microscopic.

The bronchioles eventually end in microscopic air sacs called alveoli.

In the alveoli the oxygen from the air inhaled is absorbed onto the red blood cells.

Carbon dioxide is a waste product of metabolism that is transported from the blood to the alveoli where it can be exhaled.

Between the alveoli is a thin layer of cells which contains blood vessels and cells that help support the alveoli.

The lungs are covered by a thin tissue layer (pleura) which also line the inside of the chest cavity.

A thin layer of fluid in the pleural cavity works as a lubricant allowing the lungs to move smoothly as they expand and contract with each breath.

When a person breathes in, the diaphragm and the muscles between the ribs contract and expand the chest cavity.

This expansion reduces the pressure in the chest cavity to less than the outside air pressure.

Air then enters through the airways from high pressure to low pressure and inflates the lungs.

When a person breathes out, the diaphragm and intercostal muscles relax and the chest cavity gets smaller.

The reduction in volume of the cavity raises the pressure in the chest cavity above the external air pressure.

Air from the lungs (high pressure) then passes out of the airways to the external air (low pressure).

The cycle then repeats with each breath.

Air finally finishes in the spaces in the 600 million alveoli.

As these millions of alveoli are filled with air, the lungs become bigger.

It is the alveoli that allow oxygen from the air to pass into the blood.

All the cells in the body need to use oxygen every minute of the day.

Oxygen flows through the walls of each alveolus into the tiny capillaries that enclose it.

The oxygen enters the blood in the tiny capillaries riding on the hemoglobin of the red blood cells and traveling through blood vessels to the heart.

The heart then transfers the oxygenated blood out to all the cells in the body.

When it is time to breathe out, everything happens in reverse:

The diaphragm loosens and pushes up forcing air out of the lungs.

The rib muscles become relaxed and the ribs move in again creating a smaller space in the chest.

By now the cells have used the oxygen they need and the blood is carrying carbon dioxide and other wastes that must leave the body.

The blood comes back through the capillaries and the wastes such as CO2 enter the alveoli.

Then the breathing out occurs in the reverse order of how they came in.

The air goes through the bronchioles, out the bronchi, out the trachea, and finally out through the mouth and nose.

The air that a person breathes out not only contains wastes and carbon dioxide but it is warm too.

As air travels through the body, it picks up the body heat along the way.

This heat can be felt by putting the hand in front of the mouth or nose when breathing out.

The lungs are amazing.

They allow a person to breathe, talk, shout, sing, laugh and cry.

The function of the lungs to keep the body look and feel healthy is a smart idea and the best way to keep the lungs pink and healthy is not to smoke.

Cigarette smoke injures the cilia in the trachea so they can no longer mobilize to keep dirt and other substances out of the lungs.

The alveoli get damaged too because the chemicals in cigarette smoke can cause the walls of the delicate alveoli to break down making it much harder to breathe.

The Functions of the lungs are:

Respiratory:

1. Breathing

2. Exchange of Oxygen

Non Respiratory:

1. Alter the pH of blood by facilitating alterations in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide

2. Filter out small blood clots formed in veins

3. Filter out gas micro-bubbles occurring in the venous blood stream such as those created during decompression after underwater diving.

4. Influence the concentration of some biological substances and drugs used in medicine in blood

5. Convert angiotensin I to angiotensin II by the action of angiotensin-converting enzyme

6. Serve as a layer of soft shock-absorbent defense for the heart which the lungs flank and enclose.

7. Immunoglobulin-A is secreted in the bronchial secretion and protects against respiratory infections.

8. Maintain sterility by producing mucus containing antimicrobial compounds.

Mucus contains glycoproteins e.g. mucins, lactoferrin, lysozyme, lactoperoxidase.

9. There are also on the epithelium dual oxidase, the 2 proteins generating hydrogen peroxide, helpful for hypothiocyanite endogenous antimicrobial synthesis.

10. Ciliary movement action is an important defense system