what are the: aetiology, pathogeneis, morphology of this disease?
i want to ask the same question as above but this time about emphysemia and chronic bronchitis.
what are the medico-clinical importance of pulmonary function tests?
also what is the difference between restrictive and obstructive lung disease in respect of pathophysiology and histological findings?
Best Answer: biomed_babe:Here is a partial answer, I'll not write a chapter on disease:Obstructive - as in emphysema - refers to large airspaces in a person's lungs that don't empty (due to loss of elasticity, enlargement of alveoli, destruction of membranes, etc) thereby obstructing their ventilation. If you can't empty, you can't refill with a large fresh breath. These people end up with a large, barrel chest all the time.Asthmatics try to breath but they cannot exhale completely through constricted airways or mucous filled airways that limit the airflow. They are unable to empty enough to take a full inhalation during an attack, and you can frequently hear their wheeze. With obstructive disease, the exhalation and inhalation curves of PFT's will be flattened as the person cannot completely empty quickly.Restrictive refers to any force limiting the lung's capacity to refill or expand - broken ribs, fibrosis of the air sacs, scarring of the lungs, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis for example. These people lose Total Lung Capacity (TLC). On PFT's, you can see a smaller, but more normal shaped flow-volume loop.I'll field medical questions, but research papers, presentations, and general encyclopedic themes are not deserving of a answer - I've done my legwork, you do yours!Check these sources, then ask a real medical question regarding such diseases. If you want an overview, go to a pulmonary seminar, spend a week at a military hospital where the WWII veterans are dying of COPD and other complications.
Loading ...
2 Comments
Some of the most common causes of COPD are; smoking, industrial polution (from working in a coal factory etc), air pollution, only sometimes can it be inherited (this is very rare), old age, being male, allergy, repeated lung infections (bronchitus etc)
It takes from 3 months to a year to develop COPD and the morphology is a bit too confusing to explain!!
COPD is the general term for chronic bronchitus, emphysema and other illnesses so the above goes for both bronchitus and emphysema.
The difference between restrictive and obstructive lung disease is that restrictive lung disease is characterised by a loss of airway compliance (the ability of the lungs to stretch in a change in volume relative to an applied change in pressure. It is an important measurement in respiratory physiology) and COPD is characerised by an increase in airway resistance (factors limiting the amount of inhaled air to reach the alveoli)
Hope this helps a little bit. And I hope you know something about medicine or all the jargon I have used will be utterly pointless!!
biomed_babe:
Here is a partial answer, I’ll not write a chapter on disease:
Obstructive – as in emphysema – refers to large airspaces in a person’s lungs that don’t empty (due to loss of elasticity, enlargement of alveoli, destruction of membranes, etc) thereby obstructing their ventilation. If you can’t empty, you can’t refill with a large fresh breath. These people end up with a large, barrel chest all the time.
Asthmatics try to breath but they cannot exhale completely through constricted airways or mucous filled airways that limit the airflow. They are unable to empty enough to take a full inhalation during an attack, and you can frequently hear their wheeze. With obstructive disease, the exhalation and inhalation curves of PFT’s will be flattened as the person cannot completely empty quickly.
Restrictive refers to any force limiting the lung’s capacity to refill or expand – broken ribs, fibrosis of the air sacs, scarring of the lungs, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis for example. These people lose Total Lung Capacity (TLC). On PFT’s, you can see a smaller, but more normal shaped flow-volume loop.
I’ll field medical questions, but research papers, presentations, and general encyclopedic themes are not deserving of a answer – I’ve done my legwork, you do yours!
Check these sources, then ask a real medical question regarding such diseases. If you want an overview, go to a pulmonary seminar, spend a week at a military hospital where the WWII veterans are dying of COPD and other complications.