illnesses


 * These are some of the illnesses that affect our respiratory system and produce bad things like:**

**This is when the bronchial airways narrow so it's hard to breathe. Asthma attacks can be caused by allergies, certain medicines, air pollution or over exercising. It makes you cough a lot and you find it difficult to breathe. Asthma sufferers need to use medicine in inhalers to open the airways.**
 * Asthma**




 * Bronchitis**
 * This is caused by viruses or bacteria. It makes you cough a lot and when you cough lots of mucus comes out of your mouth and nose. Smokers often get bronchitis. **




 * Emphysema**
 * This is when the air sacs in your lungs get bigger and damaged. They can't exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the blood so you have constant problems of breathing. **




 * Hay Fever**
 * This is an allergic reaction to the pollen from plants. You sneeze a lot, your nose gets blocked or runny and your eyes itch. You have to take medicines called antihistimines to stop the reaction. **




 * Pneumonia**
 * This is caused by bacteria and it inflames the air sacs and makes the lung solid. You take antibiotics to treat it. **




 * Tuberculosis**
 * This is caused by a bacteria and can be passed from animals or people to people. It can make you very ill and in the past it killed many people. It is known as TB. Now we have vaccines against it. **




 * Lung Cancer**
 * This is a cancer that forms in the lining of the air passages in the lungs. It can be treated with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and vaccine therapy to try to kill the cancer cells. **
 * 160,340 people die from lung cancer every year in the USA. **



Many of these illnesses are made a lot worse if you smoke or live in a very polluted city. On the left you can see a healthy lung and on the right is a smoker's lung!