Respiratory
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (OPD)
The adjective ‘pulmonary’ refers to the lungs, and the study of the respiratory tract and lung tissue in health and disease is called pulmonology. The word ‘respiration’ on the other hand, has two meanings:
- The more obvious one is that it is concerned with the exchange of oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) between the body and the external environment. In this case, the process is intimately associated with the circulatory system.
- The not so obvious one (unless you’re a student of science) is when cells use oxygen (O2) to metabolize organic molecules. This is called cellular respiration.
This course is built around the most common non-infectious diseases that interfere with the process of respiration, like the obstructive pulmonary diseases asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as well as lung cancer, pulmonary embolism (PE), and finally, pleural diseases.