How Disease Affects the Structure and Function of the Lungs
Introduction
Lungs are the suppliers of oxygen to the body. The disease that influences the working of the lungs is known as lung disease. It is the third most dangerous disease that kills one in seven people, especially infants that are one year old in the US (Niehs.nih.gov, 2016). Structural and functional changes occur in the lungs as well as in the other parts of the lungs. The essay aims to analyse the lung diseases that affect the structure and function of the lungs.
Structural and Functional Changes in Lungs
There are several reasons to explain the way the disease affects the structure and function of the lungs. Some of them are mentioned below.
Reduction in the Size of the Airways
Airways in the lungs are the tubes, which allow oxygen as well as other gases to pass through it. Airway diseases affect the working of these tubes. These diseases include COPD, asthma, as well as bronchiectasis. The disease mainly blocks the tubes that affect the structure of the lungs on the whole. Therefore, it could be stated that airway diseases adversely affect the lung's structure by reducing the size of the airways, making it highly uncomfortable for the individual to breathe. For instance, tobacco and cigarettes are one of the growing reasons behind reducing the size of the lungs. The chemicals in tobacco and cigarettes disturb the normal functioning of the lungs to filter the air by paralysing the cilia by producing substantial mucus. The cilia are very thin hair-like structures responsible to remove all dust and dirt. When the lungs are exposed to the harmful irritants present in tobacco, the lung structure changes from its normal size (Cosio & Popper, 2010). This happens because the tubes called airways become narrow and do not allow the individual to inhale sufficient oxygen. Henceforth, the reduction in the size of tubes affects the structure and functioning of the lungs.
Scarring or Inflammation
The scarring or inflammation influences the lung structure significantly. This means that when a disease like sarcoidosis and Pulmonary fibrosis attacks the lung tissues' structure, affecting the structure and functioning in turn. The scarring or inflammation influences the tissue, which restricts the lungs to expand. As a result, it becomes difficult for an individual to inhale oxygen as well as release carbon dioxide. It is highly hard to take deep breaths if an individual is wearing tight clothing. Indeed, scarring or inflammation is responsible for changes in the structure of the lungs.
Chronic Airway Inflammation and Frequent Infections
The cause of cystic fibrosis (CF) is chronic airway inflammation and frequent infections that lead to notable changes in the structure of the lung (Robroeks et al., 2010). In addition, it also slows down the function of the lung. When the mucus of the breathing tubes becomes sticky as well as thick, the thin hair-like structure cilia are not able to clean the germs as well as other particles out of the lung. This, in turn, does not allow bacteria to get out of the lungs, causing serious damage through chronic airway inflammation and recurrent infections. Eventually, chronic airway inflammation and frequent infections related to the lung reduce the overall risk of structure over time.
Asthma as the Problem
Asthma is also a big cause of several structural changes in the lungs, especially related to the airways. The changes in the structure of the lung caused by asthma include angiogenesis, wall thickening, epithelial fragility, augmented airway smooth muscle mass, elastin abnormalities, enlarged mucus glands, goblet cell hyperplasia, and escalated matrix deposition in the airway wall (Bai & Knight, 2005). However, in the case of severe asthma, the alveolar attachments rupture, as well as thickening of adventitial, might increase airway narrowing and attack on the luminal region might be a drawback by enhancing the danger related to airway blockage because of intraluminal cellular as well as mucus related to an asthma attack (Bai & Knight, 2005). Indeed, asthma is also a huge reason that leads to several structural changes in the lung.
Abnormal Mucociliary Clearance
The defect related to cilia also causes several structural changes. Chilvers et al. (2003) affirmed that there are several structural changes because of abnormal mucociliary discharge. For instance, the primary ciliary dyskinesia is an immotile cilia syndrome (ICS) an autosomal recessive disease with a huge genetic heterogeneity causing abnormal ciliary movement as well as weakened mucociliary clearance (Pavelka & Roth, 2010). Eventually, this functional, as well as an ultra-structural problem associated with cilia, leads to the absence of effectual ciliary movement, which in turn, becomes a big cause for abnormal mucociliary discharge. This results in repetitive respiratory infections, otitis media as well as sinusitis. Henceforth, primary ciliary dyskinesia is also a big cause that leads to several structural changes in the lung.
Viruses and Inhalation of Toxic Gases
The viruses and inhalation of toxic gases are also major reasons behind the inhalation of toxic gases. Bronchiolitis is the perfect example of a small airway disease that becomes the main reason behind changes in the structure of the lung (Schaefer-Prokop & Dixion, 2015). It is caused by Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Adenoviruses, as well as Influenza Viruses. Besides, there might be several changes in the bronchiolar epithelium (Schaefer-Prokop & Dixion, 2015). It affects the bronchioles by causing inflammation, particularly related to the cell line (Altman and Irwin, 2010). The viral infections as well as inhalation of toxic gases lead to acute bronchiolitis. An individual of any age could be affected by bronchiolitis. Certainly, bronchiolitis also causes structural changes in the lungs.
Conclusion
In sum, the lungs are the crucial part of the body that supplies oxygen in the body. However, there are certain ways that result in structural and functional changes in the lungs. These include reduction in the size of the airways, scarring or inflammation, chronic airway inflammation and frequent infections, asthma as the problem, abnormal mucociliary clearance, as well as viruses and inhalation of toxic gases. Consequently, there are several reasons why the disease affects the structure and function of the lungs.
References
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Bai, T.R., & Knight, D.A. (2005). “Structural changes in the airways in asthma: observations and consequences.” Clinical Science, 108(6), 463-477. DOI: 10.1042/CS20040342
Chilvers MA, Rutman A, O'Callaghan C. (2003). “Ciliary beat pattern is associated with specific ultra structural defects in primary ciliary dyskinesia.” Journal of Allergy Clinical Immunol, 112(3), 518-24.
Cosio, M.G., & Popper, H.H. (2010). Chapter 49: Lung Diseases. In Zander, D.S., Popper, H., Jagirdar, J., Haque, A., and Barrios, R. (2010). Molecular Pathology of Lung Diseases. UK: Springer.
Niehs.nih.gov. (2016). Lung Diseases. Retrieved from https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/conditions/lung-disease/ on 20th January, 2016.
Pavelka, M., & Roth, J. (2010). Functional Ultrastructure: Atlas of Tissue Biology and Pathology. UK: Springer.
Robroeks, C.M., Roozeboom, M.H., De Jong, PA., Tiddens, HA., Jöbsis, Q., Hendriks, Hu., Yntema, J.,Brackel, HL., Van, GR., Robben, S., & Dompeling, E. (2010). “Structural lung changes, lung function, and non-invasive inflammatory markers in cystic fibrosis.” Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 21(3), 493-500. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-3038.2009.00872.x.
Schaefer-Prokop, C., & Dixion, A.K. (2015). Grainger and Allison's Diagnostic Radiology: Chest and Cardiovascular System. USA: Elsevier Health Sciences.
