Lung cancer Pulmonary disease

Cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, and other serious diseases in smokers. Smokers are... 

Carney, D.N. Cancers of the lungs, in Pulmonary Diseases and Disorders, ed. Fishman, A.P. (New York McGraw-Hill, 1988). 

Phagocyte-derived ROMs have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of pulmonary diseases, including emphysema, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and various environmental diseases such as asbestos-related fibrosis and cancer (Mossman and Marsh, 1985). The relatively high oxygen tension in pulmonary tissue renders the lung prone to oxidative stress (Edwards and Lloyd, 1988). 

Pulmonary disease, small-cell lung cancer, head trauma, stroke, central nervous system infections, pituitary surgery, prolactinoma, severe nausea, psychiatric disease, and postoperative state... 

The signs and symptoms of lung cancer can be classified as pulmonary, extrapulmonary, and paraneoplastic. These classifications relate to disease progression. 

Signs and symptoms of lung cancer can be classified into three subdivisions pulmonary, extrapulmonary, and paraneoplastic syndromes. Distinguishing between these classes of symptoms is important because it can aid in determining the severity of the disease, guide treatment options, and affect prognosis. 

Cigarette smoking is responsible for about 80% of lung cancer cases. Other risk factors include exposure to respiratory carcinogens (e.g., asbestos, benzene), genetic risk factors, and history of other lung diseases (e.g., tuberculosis, pulmonary fibrosis). 

Cohort and case control analyses of 1576 workers found no statistically significant associations between titanium dioxide exposure and risk of lung cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and chest roentgenogram abnormalities. No cases of pulmonary fibrosis were observed among titanium dioxide-exposed employees. 

Skillud, D. M., Offord, K. P., and Miller, R. D. (1987). Higher risk of lung cancer in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A prospective matched controlled study. Ann. Int. Med. 105, 503-507. 

Smoking leads to respiratory problems other than lung cancer. It causes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and lower resistance to flu and pneumonia. It worsens asthma symptoms in adults and children. As these problems persist, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, airway obstruction) develops. Eighty to 85% of deaths due to COPD are from smoking. The role of nicotine in chronic lung diseases such as COPD, emphysema, and asthma is uncertain. However it is known that nicotine can cause an enzyme to be released which is able to destroy parts of the lungs as is seen in emphysema. 

Pulmonary gene therapy is attractive for the treatmment of chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, a-1 antitrypsin deficiency, familial emphysema, asthma, pulmonary infections, surfactant deficiency, pulmonary hypertension, lung cancer, and malignant mesothelioma. The pulmonary endothelium may act as a bioreactor for the production and secretion of therapeutic proteins, such as clotting factors and erythropoietin into the blood circulation. There is a potential benefit for acquired lung diseases, as well as cancers, to be controlled and possibly treated by expression of cytokines, surfactant, antioxidant enzymes, or mucoproteins within lung cells. 

While the respiratory system is well-equipped to defend against exposure to a vast array of toxic substances, the intricate cellular and molecular mechanisms designed to repair injured lung tissues often fail, resulting in a number of chronic lung diseases, including cancer, fibrosis, asthma, hypersensitivity pnuemonitis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is a combination of bronchitis and emphysema. 

Hypersensitivity reactions are rare, but a few have been reported after inhalation. Delayed hypersensitivity reactions, particularly affecting vascular tissue, have been recorded with chronic systemic administration. Tumor-inducing effects are difficult to attribute to cannabis alone. Animal studies have shown neoplastic pulmonary lesions superimposed on chronic inflammation, but such pathology may be primarily associated with the tar produced by burning marijuana. The most serious potential adverse effects of cannabis use come from the inhalation of the same carcinogenic hydrocarbons that are present in tobacco, and some data suggest that heavy cannabis users are at risk of chronic respiratory diseases and lung cancer. 

Respiratory toxicity Upper respiratory system (nose, pharynx, larynx, and trachea) and the lower respiratory system (bronchi, bronchioles, and lung alveoli) Pulmonary irritation Asthma/bronchitis Emphysema Allergic alveolitis Fibrotic lung disease Lung cancer... 

---