Lung Diseases

Lung diseases are among the biggest health problems in India — asthma, COPD, tuberculosis, pneumonia, occupational lung disease, and (rising fast) interstitial lung disease and lung cancer. Tobacco and air pollution drive most of the avoidable burden.

The major categories

• Obstructive (airflow blocked) — asthma, COPD (chronic bronchitis, emphysema), bronchiectasis. See their pages.
• Restrictive (lungs can't expand fully) — interstitial lung disease (post-COVID, connective-tissue-disease-related, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis), occupational (asbestos, silica).
• Infections — pneumonia, tuberculosis, fungal lung disease (mucormycosis, histoplasmosis).
• Vascular — pulmonary embolism, pulmonary hypertension.
• Cancer — lung cancer (mainly smokers, but non-smoker cases are rising in India, especially among women).
• Sleep-related — obstructive sleep apnoea.

India-specific drivers

• Tobacco — cigarettes, biri, hookah, chewing tobacco. The biggest single cause of preventable lung disease and death.
• Indoor air pollution — biomass fuel for cooking (wood, cow-dung), kerosene, mosquito coils — a major cause of COPD in non-smoking women.
• Outdoor air pollution — Delhi/NCR, Kolkata, Lucknow, Patna, industrial belts; winter stubble-burning; Diwali.
• Occupational dust — silicosis in stone-quarry workers, byssinosis in cotton mills, coal-worker pneumoconiosis, asbestos-related disease.
• Tuberculosis — India still has the world's largest burden; high index of suspicion for persistent cough > 2 weeks.
• Post-COVID interstitial lung disease — a new and growing category.

Prevention — the biggest levers

• Don't start, and quit, tobacco — see Quitting Smoking.
• Clean cooking fuel (LPG under Ujjwala) or good ventilation if using biomass; don't let children and women be exposed to cooking smoke.
• Mask during high-AQI days (N95/N99); limit outdoor exercise when AQI is hazardous.
• Workplace dust protection — N95+ respirators, wet cutting for stone, regular lung health screening.
• Flu + pneumococcal vaccines for adults with lung disease and over 65.

When to see a doctor

• Cough > 2 weeks, especially with fever, sweats, or weight loss — TB screen.
• Breathlessness on exertion that is new or worsening.
• Coughing up blood.
• Recurrent chest infections.
• Persistent wheeze, night cough, chest tightness.
• Known occupational exposure (stone cutting, cotton mill, construction, mining) — screen yearly.