What would happen to the lungs if you get lung disease?

Question: What would happen to the lungs if you get lung disease?
- Keywords:
  lung disease,
  lungs
Asked by 379furk43 to Chris, Joanne, Kathryn, Kieran, Sarah on 8 Nov 2017.
- Kathryn Schoenrock answered on 8 Nov 2017:
  
  Our lungs are really important because they bring oxygen into our body when we inhale and get rid of carbon dioxide (waste) when we exhale. They are so closely tied to our circulatory system (the heart, arteries, and veins) that you can control your heart rate through breathing! When your lungs are sick or diseased (say cancer or pleuracy) it makes it harder for the lungs to move (they are elastic like a ballon) and much harder for then to deliver oxygen and carbon dioxide to the blood and back again. They try to clean themselves which is why you cough and may cough up mucus when you have a bad flu/cold. Not sure if that answers your question, but keep them coming!
- Chris Werner answered on 8 Nov 2017:
  
  Well…nothing good! The lungs are so crucial to allow us to breathe, and there is a number of diseases from pneumonia to lung cancer. Taking pneumonia as a well known example, the air sacs (alveoli) become inflamed and fill up with fluid. This causes the symptoms such as a cough, fever, chills, and trouble breathing. When you have pneumonia, oxygen may have trouble reaching your blood!
  
  Another dishonourable example is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicavolcanoconiosis (try saying that 5 times faster, and fun fact, its also the longest word in a dictionary!!). Putting that in English its a disease caused by inhaling fine dust particles from volcanic ash. Because its volcanic ash, its ver fine rock and very sharp and basically tears the lungs apart. Asbestos has a similar effect.
- Sarah Guerin answered on 9 Nov 2017:
  
  Yup, it’s all about the alveoli- if they are damaged then you can’t breathe normally and you have a lung disease.

Question: What would happen to the lungs if you get lung disease?

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