Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to review the ways in which environmental factors interact with the aging lung. In earlier chapters we saw that the lung ages in a predictable way in mammals, and that aging involves anatomic, physiologic, and immune correlates. Distinguishing between physiologic aging and the additional effects of environmental factors is difficult. As our knowledge of normal aging is based upon data from populations with different genetic susceptibilities to lung disease, it is difficult to distinguish aging per se from the cumulative effects of environmental insults and genetic susceptibility. In this chapter, we explore the factors that influence the susceptibility of the aging lung to environmental injury and the changes in biologic response to inhaled gases, particulates, and micro-organisms that occur over time. We conclude by discussing several common non-neoplastic diseases that are known to be affected by both age and the environment; chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Lung: Development, Aging and the Environment: Second Edition |
| Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
| Pages | 471-491 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780127999418 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 23 2014 |
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Keywords
- Aging
- Asthma
- COPD
- Emphysema
- Environment
- Immunity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)
- Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics(all)