Respiratory Diseases

💡TL;DR: Airway inflammation means your breathing tubes are swollen and narrowed, often making extra mucus that causes cough, wheeze, and chest tightness. Most acute cases follow viral bronchitis, while chronic inflammation shows up in asthma and COPD; in asthma, 50–70% of patients have Type 2 (allergic) inflammation. The

💡TL;DR: 70% SpO₂ is a medical emergency. Normal is 95–100% at sea level; anything below 80% is severe and can injure organs fast. At 70% you usually have minutes to a few hours without urgent treatment—call 911. Chronic lung disease does not make 70% “normal”; long‑term

💡TL;DR: Empyema = around the lung; lung abscess = inside the lung. Empyema usually needs drainage plus antibiotics; a lung abscess usually responds to antibiotics alone. CT is the best way to tell them apart; a classic study found CT correctly distinguished them in every case. Empyema carries higher short-term risk

💡TL;DR: Valley Fever can leave a small lung nodule (a scar) in about 5% of infections, and most are harmless and do not become cancer. In endemic areas, many nodules that look suspicious on scans prove to be Valley Fever scars; doctors balance watchful follow-up vs biopsy based on

💡TL;DR: Empyema is an infected pleural effusion (pus in the pleural space) that usually needs urgent drainage plus IV antibiotics, while a typical pleural effusion is extra fluid that is often not infected and is treated by fixing the cause and draining only if needed. Doctors look for loculations

💡TL;DR: A nebulizer can help COVID-related wheeze or chest tightness, especially if you have asthma or COPD, but it does not treat the virus. If you already have a prescription, keep using it as directed; if you do not, talk to your doctor before starting any nebulized medicine. Use

💡TL;DR: Effusion = fluid; pneumothorax = air that can collapse a lung. Effusions are common in the U.S. (≈1.5 million cases yearly), while spontaneous pneumothorax is less common but often sudden. Imaging separates them quickly (fluid layering vs a clear rim of air), and treatment differs: effusion is drained

💡TL;DR: Pulmonary edema is fluid inside the lung’s air sacs; pleural effusion is fluid around the lungs in the pleural space. Edema tends to be sudden and is an emergency, treated in the hospital with oxygen and diuretics; effusions often build gradually and can be drained while the

💡TL;DR: ALS weakens the breathing muscles, not the lungs, so early clues are orthopnea, morning headaches, daytime sleepiness, and a weaker cough. Starting noninvasive ventilation at night when tests and symptoms change can improve sleep and daytime energy and is linked to longer survival. Airway clearance tools (assisted cough,