Fatal Lung Diseases
People use their lungs to breathe approximately 25,000 times in a day according to Medline Plus. Some forms of lung disease make it difficult to breathe, while others result in death. Some of the most fatal lung diseases include lung cancer, pneumonia, influenza and emphysema.
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Lung Cancer
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Approximately 160,000 people die from lung cancer each year according to the Lung Cancer Partnership. Smoking cigarettes is the largest cause of lung cancer and the second leading cause of lung cancer is radiation exposure. Lung cancer can be treated with surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy.
Pneumonia
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Pneumonia is caused by a lung infection that results in the lungs becoming inflamed, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms that are most commonly associated with pneumonia include fatigue, muscle pain, headache, chest pain, shaking chills, sweating, shortness of breath, coughing and fever.
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Influenza
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According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza is a respiratory infection that can result in severe to mild illness and in some cases death. The best way to prevent influenza is by getting a seasonal influenza vaccination. Each year, approximately 36,000 people die from influenza and 200,000 people are hospitalized.
Emphysema
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Smoking is the primary cause of emphysema according to the Mayo Clinic. Emphysema is when air sacs at the end of the bronchioles are slowly destroyed. There is no cure for emphysema, but its effects can be slowed with breathing retraining, surgery, and medication.
Asbestosis
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Abestosis is a respiratory disorder that's caused by breathing in asbestos fibers according to the Mayo Clinic. This causes scaring of the lungs and can make it extremely difficult to breathe. In the past, people got asbestosis from exposure in the workplace. However, now use of asbestos fibers is regulated more strictly.
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