Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis Lung Advice And Treatment
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Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a legitimate lung condition. It is also recognised as the longest word in the English language, but what is it, and how do you treat it?
Ninety-nine per cent of physicians will never encounter this disease in their years of general practice but let’s break it down into bite-sized pieces that will make things clearer for all.
- Pneumo: means relating to the lungs.
- Ultra: means extreme or ‘extremely something,’ i.e., ultra-fit, ultra-fine.
- Microscopic: means so tiny it can only be seen under a microscope.
- Silica: is a form of sand.
- Volcano: Well, we all know what they are.
- Coniosis: This means scarring of the lining of the lungs.
Put them all together, and you have a 45-letter word entirely useless for scrabble but is a legitimate lung condition called Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
Click on this link to hear it pronounced correctly:
How to Pronounce Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis!?!
What Is Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis?
A lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silicate or quartz dust, causing inflammation in the lungs. The sharp particles lacerate the lining of the lungs, causing the victim to leak air from their lungs while simultaneously bleeding into their lung cavity.
The pneumoconioses are a group of lung diseases caused by the lung’s reaction to inhaling certain ultra-fine particles. The main cause of pneumoconioses is workplace exposure. Environmental exposures have rarely been related to these diseases.
The three primary pneumoconiosis are:
Asbestosis – is caused by inhaling asbestos fibres that lead to a lung cancer called mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that develops in the thin layer of tissue that covers most of your internal organs, called the mesothelium. The most common form, called pleural mesothelioma, occurs in the lining of the lungs.
Silicosis – caused by inhaling silica dust.
https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/silicosis
Coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (commonly referred to as CWP or Black Lung) – is caused by inhaling coal mine dust.
These three diseases are not the only causes and typically take many years to develop, often with repeated exposure to the particles and a lack of safe workplace practice or ignorance of the dangers of being exposed to the particles, as was the case with miners prior to the condition being identified and given a name, cause, and solutions to prevent further exposure in the workplace.
However, rapidly progressive forms of silicosis can occur after short periods of intense exposure. When severe, the diseases often lead to lung impairment, disability, and premature death. From a public health and OH&S perspective, these conditions are entirely man-made. They can be avoided through appropriate dust control measures using ventilation and filtered respiratory masks designed to trap and prevent particles from entering the lungs.
Other forms of pneumoconioses can be caused by inhaling dust and particulates predominant in the construction and manufacturing industry containing:
- Aluminium
- Antimony
- Barium
- Graphite
- Iron
- Kaolin
- Mica
- Talc
- Cotton
- There is also a form called mixed-dust pneumoconiosis.
Byssinosis, caused by exposure to cotton dust, is sometimes included in the pneumoconiosis. However, the lung abnormality pattern in Byssinosis differs from the pneumoconioses listed above.
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/pneumoconioses/default.html
Is Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis A Type Of Pneumonia?
It is a type of pneumoconiosis known in the United Kingdom as black lung. The word pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis was created in 1935.
Because you are most likely to encounter these dust particles in the workplace, pneumoconiosis is referred to as an occupational lung disease. Pneumoconiosis usually takes years to develop. Because your lungs can’t get rid of the dust particles, they cause inflammation in the lining of the lungs that can eventually lead to scar tissue.
Pneumoconiosis | Johns Hopkins Medicine
What Are The Symptoms Of Pneumoconiosis?
- A long-term cough
- Coughing up large amounts of mucus
- Feeling short of breath
- Fluid may build up in the pleural space between the lungs and the chest wall giving pneumonia-like symptoms.
How Can Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis Be Treated?
There is currently no cure for Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
Alternative treatments can make it easier for sufferers to breathe and continue their regular activities using prescribed medication such as a bronchodilator or corticosteroid. Bronchodilators open the airways, while corticosteroids can curb airway inflammation.
Oxygen therapy might be recommended if you have low oxygen levels in your blood. In this treatment, you breathe in supplemental oxygen through a mask or prongs in your nose. The oxygen required for this therapy is stored in a portable tank. Some people require this treatment throughout the day, while others may only require it during the night.
Take the Lung Health Online Test
Signs & symptoms – Lung Foundation Australia
Fun fact: The actual longest word in English has the short title of Titin. The long form version of the word legitimately takes close to 3.5 hours to say. Yes, you read that correctly a word so long that it takes 3.5 hours to say from start to finish!
The word is 189,819 letters long. It is actually the name of a giant protein called Titin. Proteins are usually named by mashing-up the names of the chemicals making them. And since Titin is the largest protein ever discovered, its name had to be equally as large.
Want to see it written? Good luck getting to the end of the link below!
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