Respiratory disease Respiratory disease Respiratory disease is a medical term that encompasses pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange possible in higher organisms, and includes conditions of the upper respiratory tract, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, pleura and pleural cavity, and the nerves and muscles of breathing. Respiratory diseases range from mild and self-limiting, such as the common cold, to life-threatening entities like bacterial pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, acute asthma and lung cancer. The study of respiratory disease is known as pulmonology. A doctor who specializes in respiratory disease is known as a pulmonologist, a chest medicine specialist, a respiratory
Progressive disease are also referred to as degenerative diseases. Not all chronic diseases are progressive: a chronic, non-progressive disease may be referred to as a "static" condition. "Progressive disease" can also be a clinical endpoint i.e. an endpoint in a clinical trial. There are examples of slowly and rapidly progressive diseases affecting all organ systems and parts of the body. The following are some examples of rapidly and slowly progressive diseases affecting various organ systems: Progressive disease Progressive disease or progressive illness is a disease or physical ailment whose course in most cases is the worsening, growth, or spread of the disease.