
Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Pneumonitis
Introduction
Overview
Overview
Pneumonitis or pulmonitis is a general term that refers to inflammation of lung tissue.[1][2]
Many factors can cause pneumonitis, including breathing in animal dander, aspiration (inhaling small food particles or vomit “down the wrong pipe”), and receiving radiation therapy to the chest.[3]
Pneumonitis was listed as the one of the top 15 leading causes of death (at number 15) in the United States as of 2010, overtaking homicide, which dropped off the list. This was due to a number of factors, including an increase in the population of people over 75, for whom pneumonitis is a common cause of death.[4]
Pneumonia is pneumonitis combined with consolidation and exudation due to infection.[5]
Classification
Classification
It can be classified into acute interstitial pneumonitis, blood pneumonitis, lymphocytic interstitial pneumonitis, radiation pneumonitis, and uremic pneumonitis.[2]
Causes
Causes
- Viral infection. As one example, measles can cause severe pneumonitis, and ribavirin has been proposed as a possible treatment.
- Pneumonia
- Radiation therapy
- Inhaling chemicals, such as Sodium hydroxide [6]
- Sepsis
- Adverse reaction to medications
- Hypersensitivity to inhaled agents[7]
- Inhalation of spores of some species of mushroom (Bronchoalveolar allergic syndrome)[8]
- Mercury exposure
- Smoking
- Overexposure to Chlorine
- Drugs such as Afatinib, Crizotinib, Everolimus, Minocycline hydrochloride, Olaparib , Trametinib
References
References
- ↑ Template:DorlandsDict
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stedman’s medical dictionary (28th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 2006. ISBN 978-0-7817-6450-6.
- ↑ Mayo Clinic
- ↑ STOBBE, MIKE (12 January 2012). “Homicide drops off US list of top causes of death”. Yahoo News/Associated Press. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
- ↑ Template:DorlandsDict
- ↑ http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/pdfs/0565.pdf
- ↑ Patient UK
- ↑ Medscape.com
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
