[고양신문] As the change of season approaches, the incidence of respiratory diseases is rapidly increasing. As the daily temperature difference increases and the weather becomes dry, the respiratory system is bound to react more sensitively. Respiratory disease refers to a disease that occurs in the organs involved in breathing. This includes the nose, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, lungs, and pleura. Respiratory diseases range from a mild cold to life-threatening pneumonia or lung cancer.
Cold, one of the most common respiratory diseases, is an infectious disease caused by a virus in the upper respiratory tract, including the nose and throat, and may have symptoms such as cough, runny nose, sore throat, and headache. A cold is a disease that heals on its own without special treatment. Many of the patients who still come to the hospital think that taking medicine will quickly cure a cold. However, taking medicine does not cure a cold quickly. It is only effective in relieving the symptoms caused by a cold. Colds usually go away on their own in 1-2 weeks.
Influenza is a respiratory disease that should be distinguished from a cold. Influenza is a respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus. Unlike the common cold, it can affect both the upper and lower respiratory tract and is often accompanied by systemic symptoms such as high fever, muscle pain, and weakness. Influenza is highly contagious and can spread widely. The symptoms are more severe than the common cold and the incidence of complications is high, so national management is important. Prevention is more important than treatment. Because the type of influenza changes every year and is mainly prevalent in winter, it is necessary to get a flu vaccination once a year. However, getting vaccinated does not mean that you will not get the flu, and it has nothing to do with getting the flu vaccination and getting a cold.
Pneumonia and tuberculosis are also important respiratory diseases. Pneumonia is a disease in which bacteria or viruses infect the lungs. Symptoms may include coughing, phlegm, fever, and shortness of breath. Unlike a cold, a bacterial infection can cause pneumonia, so it is necessary to treat it with antibiotics. In particular, people with chronic lung disease or those over the age of 65 are vulnerable to pneumonia, so be careful. In most cases, taking antibiotics for 1 to 2 weeks will be cured, but depending on the situation, hospitalization and long-term treatment may be required.
Tuberculosis is similar to pneumonia, but symptoms may appear gradually rather than acutely, and tuberculosis should be suspected if coughing, phlegm, and mild fever persist for a long time. In particular, if you get tuberculosis because it is highly contagious, you need to be isolated for 1 to 2 weeks. The treatment period is also long, so you have to take medicine for regarding 6 months to be completely cured.
One of the chronic respiratory diseases is asthma. Asthma is a disease that appears due to chronic inflammation in the bronchi, which narrows the bronchi due to bronchial inflammation and muscle contraction, resulting in shortness of breath and wheezing. It is a disease that is greatly influenced by the environment, and symptoms can get worse during the changing seasons like these days. Occasionally, patients with asthma who stop taking the medicine and do not come to the hospital when the symptoms disappear following using the medicine, and later come back to the hospital because the condition worsens once more. Unfortunately, asthma is a disease with no cure and requires constant treatment.
Another chronic respiratory disease is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It is a disease caused by repeated abnormal inflammatory reactions in the lungs due to chronic inhalation of noxious particles or gases. The most common causative agent is tobacco. This leads to decreased lung function and chronic respiratory distress. Because of the long and difficult name, many patients do not understand COPD and often mistake it for asthma. Asthma usually appears at a young age and is characterized by fluctuating shortness of breath. On the other hand, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease usually appears following the age of 40 and is different from asthma in that shortness of breath gradually worsens. Once lung function declines and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease appears, it is difficult to reverse it. Most of them are related to smoking, so smoking cessation is the most important prevention and treatment.
Among respiratory diseases, one of the diseases unfamiliar to patients is interstitial lung disease. There is a part of the lung called interstitium, which is a tissue composed of blood vessels and alveolar cells. To put it simply, when a person breathes, air moves in and out of the lungs from the outside. Interstitial lung disease does not mean a single disease, but includes dozens of diseases. Each disease has different characteristics and treatment, so it is difficult to talk regarding it in one form. However, the main symptoms may include coughing and shortness of breath, and a biopsy may be required for an accurate diagnosis. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is common among interstitial diseases, but it is difficult to treat and has a poor prognosis with a short survival period of 2 to 3 years.
Finally, one of the most important respiratory diseases is lung cancer. Symptoms of lung cancer include coughing, bloody sputum, chest pain, and shortness of breath. The scary thing regarding lung cancer is that when symptoms appear, the cancer is often already advanced. The most important tests for diagnosing lung cancer are X-rays and computed tomography (CT) of the chest. However, in the case of chest X-ray, it is difficult to detect small lung cancer or lung cancer hidden in other structures, so it is not helpful for lung cancer screening. Lung cancer progresses rapidly and has a low survival rate compared to other cancers. In the early stages, it can be cured with surgery, but in the case of stage 3 or 4, the average survival period is regarding 6 to 12 months. It is closely related to smoking, so smoking cessation is the most important preventive measure.
Seoncheol Park, Professor, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital
