American Lung Association Report Finds Lung Disease Death Rates Increasing While Cancer, Heart Disease and Stroke Death Rates Are ...( WASHINGTON June 27 -- According ...),Health

WASHINGTON, June 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- According to the latest report by the American Lung Association, Lung Disease Data, death rates due to lung disease are currently increasing while death rates due to other leading causes of death such as heart disease, cancer and stroke are declining. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is expected to become the third leading cause of death by 2020.

The American Lung Association publishes Lung Disease Data to serve as a resource to the public, media, healthcare professionals, researchers and lung disease patients and their caregivers on the latest trends and research in lung disease, along with relevant facts and figures about some of the most common lung diseases in the United States today.

Lung disease is any disease or disorder where lung function is impaired. Lung diseases can be caused by long-term and immediate exposure to smoking, secondhand smoke, air pollution, occupational hazards such as asbestos and silica dust, carcinogens that trigger tumor growth, infectious agents, and over reactive immune defenses.

"Every year, about 400,000 Americans die from lung disease," said Bernadette Toomey, President and CEO of the American Lung Association. "With our report, Lung Disease Data, we hope to provide valuable information on lung disease to the public, especially to people who become ill and their family members who are caring for them," she continued.

There are many types of lung diseases, including:

-- Obstructive lung diseases such as asthma and COPD which includes chronic

bronchitis and emphysema. These all affect a person's airways and

limit or block the flow of air in or out of the lungs.

-- Infectious illnesses such as pneumonia, influenza, respiratory syncytial

virus (RSV) and tuberculosis (TB). Bacteria or viruses cause these

diseases that can also affect the membrane (or pleura) that surrounds'/>"/>