What diseases affect breathing/respiration?

    Researchedby:

    Fact-checked

    by:

    Last Updated: October 25, 2023

    Various diseases can affect the different tissue types in the lungs or the chest wall and have different causes (e.g., environmental, infectious, malignant, autoimmune, congenital). Such diseases include airway diseases (e.g., asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), acute bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer), alveolar diseases (e.g., bacterial and viral pneumonias, tuberculosis, emphysema, pulmonary edema), diseases that affect blood vessels (e.g., pulmonary embolism, pulmonary artery hypertension ), diseases that affect the interstitium (e.g., pulmonary fibrosis, sarcoidosis, radiation pneumonitis); diseases that affect the pleura (e.g., pneumothorax, pleural effusion, malignant mesothelioma), and diseases that affect the musculoskeletal system (e.g., myasthenia gravis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, obesity hypoventilation syndrome).