The respiratory tract is the subdivision of the respiratory system involved with the process of conducting air to the alveoli for the purposes of gas exchange in mammals. The respiratory tract is lined with respiratory epithelium as respiratory mucosa.
Passive smoking is the inhalation of tobacco smoke, called passive smoke, secondhand smoke (SHS) or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), by individuals other than the active smoker. It occurs when tobacco smoke diffuses into the surrounding atmosphere as an aerosol pollutant, which leads to its inhalation by nearby bystanders within the same environment. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes many of the same diseases caused by active smoking, although to a lower prevalence due to the reduced concentration of smoke that enters the airway.
The American Lung Association is a voluntary health organization whose mission is to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research.
Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, pleurae, pleural cavity, the nerves and muscles of respiration. Respiratory diseases range from mild and self-limiting, such as the common cold, influenza, and pharyngitis to life-threatening diseases such as bacterial pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, tuberculosis, acute asthma, lung cancer, and severe acute respiratory syndromes, such as COVID-19. Respiratory diseases can be classified in many different ways, including by the organ or tissue involved, by the type and pattern of associated signs and symptoms, or by the cause of the disease.
National Jewish Health is a Denver, Colorado academic hospital/clinic doing research and treatment in respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders. It is an internationally respected medical center that draws people from many countries to receive care. Founded in 1899 to treat tuberculosis, it is non-sectarian but had funding from B'nai B'rith until the 1950s.
Occupational lung diseases comprise a broad group of diseases, including occupational asthma, industrial bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchiolitis obliterans, inhalation injury, interstitial lung diseases, infections, lung cancer and mesothelioma. These can be caused directly or due to immunological response to an exposure to a variety of dusts, chemicals, proteins or organisms. Occupational cases of interstitial lung disease may be misdiagnosed as COPD, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or a myriad of other diseases; leading to a delay in identification of the causative agent.
Occupational asthma is new onset asthma or the recurrence of previously quiescent asthma directly caused by exposure to an agent at workplace. It is an occupational lung disease and a type of work-related asthma. Agents that can induce occupational asthma can be grouped into sensitizers and irritants.
Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. Symptoms include coughing up sputum, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest pain. Bronchitis can be acute or chronic.
Obstructive lung disease is a category of respiratory disease characterized by airway obstruction. Many obstructive diseases of the lung result from narrowing (obstruction) of the smaller bronchi and larger bronchioles, often because of excessive contraction of the smooth muscle itself. It is generally characterized by inflamed and easily collapsible airways, obstruction to airflow, problems exhaling, and frequent medical clinic visits and hospitalizations. Types of obstructive lung disease include asthma, bronchiectasis, bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although COPD shares similar characteristics with all other obstructive lung diseases, such as the signs of coughing and wheezing, they are distinct conditions in terms of disease onset, frequency of symptoms, and reversibility of airway obstruction. Cystic fibrosis is also sometimes included in obstructive pulmonary disease.
The Smoke-Free Illinois Act is a comprehensive anti-smoking law that took effect in Illinois on January 1, 2008. It bans smoking inside most buildings and vehicles used by the general public, used as a place of employment, or owned by the government or another public body. It also requires "no smoking" signs, bans smoking within 15 feet (4.6 m) of openings in the targeted buildings, and requires at least 75% of rooms in each hotel to be non-smoking. The act replaced the previous Illinois Clean Indoor Air Act.
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials into the atmosphere, causing harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damaging ecosystems. Air pollution can cause health problems including, but not limited to, infections, behavioral changes, cancer, organ failure, and premature death. These health effects are not equally distributed across the U.S. population; there are demographic disparities by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and education. Air pollution can derive from natural sources, or anthropogenic sources. Anthropogenic air pollution has affected the United States since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
World Lung Foundation (WLF) is a non-profit foundation established in 2004 to support private organizations and government agencies, who work to improve lung health, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by long-term respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. GOLD 2024 defined COPD as a heterogeneous lung condition characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms due to abnormalities of the airways and/or alveoli (emphysema) that cause persistent, often progressive, airflow obstruction.
The Canadian Lung Association is a national organization and volunteer-based health charity that supports lung health research, education, prevention of disease/disorders and advocacy in Canada.
The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, or The Union, is a century old global membership based, scientific organization headquartered in Paris with the stated goals to "improve health for people in low- and middle-income Countries". The Union focuses its work in three areas of lung health: Tuberculosis control, Tobacco Control, and other communicable and non-communicable Lung diseases.The Union organises the annual Union World Conference on Lung Health, the largest annual meeting on lung health in the world, manages the International Journal of TB and Lung Disease, and implements various funded projects and activities across the world.
Ravi Kalhan is the director of the Asthma and COPD Program at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pneumologie und Beatmungsmedizin is the largest and oldest medical professional organization for respiratory disorders in the German-speaking world and serves as a forum for all medical practitioners and scientists in the field of respiratory medicine. Almost 28% of the more than 3,000 members are women. Pneumologie has been the official journal of the German Respiratory Society since 1981.
Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Housing refers to a ban on smoking tobacco products in multiple‐unit or multi‐unit housing (MUH) complexes, which are defined as a public or private building, or portion thereof, containing two or more dwelling or other housing units including, but not limited to, a building with live/work units, apartment buildings, condominiums, senior citizen residences, nursing homes, housekeeping room/units, residential or single room occupancy hotels, and other multi-unit residential dwellings, group housing, or boarding facilities. According to recent estimates, within the United States, roughly 80 million residents live in multi-unit housing complexes and more than 1 in 3 renters are exposed to secondhand smoke.
International Workshop on Lung Health is a medical association known to work specifically in the respiratory medicine domain. It is known for organizing annual conferences on recent approaches of daily clinical methodologies.
Smoker's macrophages are alveolar macrophages whose characteristics, including appearance, cellularity, phenotypes, immune response, and other functions, have been affected upon the exposure to cigarettes. These altered immune cells are derived from several signaling pathways and are able to induce numerous respiratory diseases. They are involved in asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis, and lung cancer. Smoker’s macrophages are observed in both firsthand and secondhand smokers, so anyone exposed to cigarette contents, or cigarette smoke extract (CSE), would be susceptible to these macrophages, thus in turns leading to future complications.
