Asbestosis is a chronic (long-term) lung disease caused by breathing in asbestos fibers. Asbestos is a heat-resistant mineral that used to be common in insulation, vinyl floor tiles, cement, brake linings and other products.
Asthma is a chronic condition that affects almost 5 million Canadians. Asthma cannot be cured, but it can be treated and managed so that people with asthma can live almost symptom free.
When someone has asthma, their airways are sensitive to certain triggers. When they are exposed to these triggers, the smooth muscles around the airways tighten (bronchoconstriction) and spasm (bronchospasm). The cells of the airways become swollen and the body produces excess mucous. These reactions make breathing difficult. When this happens, it’s called an asthma exacerbation, a flare-up or an asthma attack.
There is no single cause of asthma. Things like family history, indoor and outdoor air pollution and exposure to certain workplace chemicals can make a person more likely to get asthma.
Most people with asthma will first show symptoms when they are young. Asthma symptoms are different from person to person and they can change over time. Because asthma symptoms only happen sometimes, many people believe they only have asthma sometimes. Asthma is constant, it is only the symptoms that are intermittent.
Bronchiectasis is an obstructive lung disease in which the airways widen and stretch out. In some places this can cause little pockets to form in which germs, dust and mucus collect and get stuck, which can cause infection.
Bronchitis is swelling in your air passages (bronchi). Bronchitis causes the bronchi to swell and fill with sticky mucus, making it harder to breathe.
Acute bronchitis lasts two to three weeks and is usually caused by a virus. A cough with mucus on most days for three months of the year is considered chronic bronchitis, which can contribute to COPD.
Chronic cough is a cough that lasts eight weeks or more. It is estimated that chronic cough affects about 16% of Canadians between the ages of 45 and 85.
COPD is a chronic, progressive lung disease that affects more than 2 million people living in Canada. It is the second-leading cause of hospitalization in this country.
COPD causes the airways in the lungs to become swollen and blocked. Shortness of breath and increasing difficulty with everyday activities are two of the most common signs of COPD. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are the two conditions that contribute to COPD in most cases.
Colds are infections of the nose and throat (the upper respiratory tract). Colds are extremely difficult to prevent entirely as colds are highly contagious. There are more than 200 different respiratory viruses that can cause a cold; rhinoviruses are the most common.
COVID-19 is caused by a virus that directly affects the lungs. People with lung disease who become infected with COVID-19 are more at risk of serious illness and hospitalization. If you have lung disease, preventing the contraction of COVID-19 is extremely important.
Croup is a viral infection that causes swelling in the throat and vocal cords (larynx). Croup commonly affects children under five because their airways are smaller and more prone to swelling. One of the tell-tale signs of croup is a loud, “barky” cough that is worse at night.
People with cystic fibrosis have an unusually thick, sticky mucus that clogs their lungs, makes it hard to breathe and can lead to life-threatening lung infections. CF also affects the pancreas: thick secretions there stop the release of the digestive enzymes that normally help break down food, making it hard for people to digest and absorb nutrients. The mucus can also block the bile duct in the liver, which eventually causes permanent liver damage in some people with CF.
Cystic Fibrosis Canada is an excellent source of information on and support for cystic fibrosis.
Emphysema is one of the two conditions that contribute to COPD in most cases.
Emphysema develops over time and involves the gradual damage of lung tissue, specifically the destruction of the alveoli (tiny air sacs). Gradually, this damage causes the air sacs to rupture and create one big air pocket instead of many small ones. This reduction in the lung surface area traps air in the damaged tissue and prevents oxygen from moving through the bloodstream. This blockage causes the lungs to slowly overfill and makes breathing increasingly more difficult.
A chronic cough is one of the most common symptoms of emphysema.
Flu is a vaccine-preventable respiratory infection caused primarily by influenza A and B viruses. Seasonal influenza epidemics occur annually in Canada, generally in the late fall and winter months. Although most people recover on their own, flu can cause serious complications and even death, particularly for individuals at high risk.
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a rare but serious lung disease spread by deer mice and other wild rodents. Hantavirus is found in the saliva, urine and droppings of infected rodents.
ILD is not one disease; it’s a term used for about 200 different conditions that affect the tissue in and around the air sacs of the lungs (alveoli). ILDs are a restrictive lung disease, which means it makes it harder for the lungs to fully expand or fill up with air. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is one of the most common types of ILD.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in this country, but the incidence and mortality rates for lung cancer are decreasing faster than any other type of cancer in Canada.
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, a two-layered membrane that encloses the lungs and lines the chest cavity. Pleurisy occurs when the pleura get inflamed (red and swollen).
Pneumonia is vaccine-preventable* illness caused by when a lung infection leads to swelling (inflammation) of one or both lungs. Pneumonia can cause the air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs to fill with pus and mucus, which makes them less stretchy and keeps oxygen from properly reaching your blood stream. You may feel short of breath and experience cough, fever and chest pain.
Pneumonia can be life-threatening: it’s a leading cause of death and hospitalization in seniors and in people with long-term (chronic) diseases.
*Not all types of pneumonia are vaccine preventable.
Post-COVID-19 condition is not COVID-19 — it is the longer-term effects some people experience after COVID-19 infection. Symptoms can be quite different from those experienced during the initial infection with COVID-19.
Symptoms are diverse and can be both physical and psychological. They may occur in some people weeks or months after their initial infection with COVID-19 and can occur in people who had no symptoms or only moderate symptoms of COVID-19.
A pulmonary embolism happens when one or more of your arteries in your lungs gets blocked by a blood clot, fat or tumor. The most common type of pulmonary embolism is caused by a blood clot that moves through your blood stream, goes through your heart and blocks off an artery in your lung.
Pulmonary fibrosis is a family of more than 200 different lung diseases that all look very much alike. Pulmonary fibrosis is a type of interstitial lung disease (ILD), which are lung disease that involve inflammation and/or scarring in the lungs. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) means the cause of the scarring is unknown. IPF is the most common type of pulmonary fibrosis.
Pulmonary hypertension is a term to describe abnormally high blood pressure in your lungs. It can be difficult to diagnose because the symptoms are common to many other respiratory and cardiac illnesses such as COPD, asthma or congestive heart failure.
Sarcoidosis can cause swelling in the cells in different organs of your body. It usually affects your lungs. It can also affect other organs, like your skin, eyes, lymph nodes and brain.
Respiratory syncytial virus (or RSV) is a vaccine-preventable infection of the lungs and airways. RSV can affect anyone of any age, but it’s most common in infants and young children, who are at risk of serious illness.
Obstructive sleep apnea (also called OSA or obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome) is a serious breathing problem that interrupts your sleep. Over 1 in 4 (26%) Canadian adults are at high risk of having or developing obstructive sleep apnea.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden and unexplained death of an infant who is younger than one year old. SIDS seems to strike without warning, usually in babies who seem perfectly healthy.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious disease caused by breathing in a bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB usually infects the lungs, but it can also infect other parts of the body, including the kidneys, spine and brain.
Pertussis (also known as whooping cough) is a contagious infection of the respiratory tract (breathing tubes). It causes severe coughing that can last for weeks. People with pertussis often make a loud “whooping sound” when they inhale after coughing.