Recurrent or chronic respiratory infections may plague people with certain chronic lung diseases, such as cystic fibrosis or bronchiectasis. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women. Its symptoms may include a persistent cough, bloody sputum, chest pain, and recurring pneumonia or bronchitis. However, symptoms may be absent until very late in the course of the disease. When it is discovered in advanced stages, the cure rate is generally low.
Cigarette smoking is the major risk factor for the development of lung cancer.
Diseases of blood vessels in the lungs. Pulmonary hypertension, or abnormally high blood pressure in the lung, is usually unrelated to high blood pressure in the rest of the body. Its cause may be unknown or it may be due to lung tissue damage or to inflammation of blood vessels in the lung. The pulmonary circulation may also be affected by pulmonary embolism, a serious disorder in which a blood clot travels through the circulation and is trapped in a lung. The lungs may not function properly because the areas in the brain that control breathing are disrupted or the nerves that supply the muscles of breathing are abnormal.