We interrupt this blog to bring you an important announcement! Dr. Fortune O. Alabi, MD, Dr. Fred C. Umeh, MD, and Dr. Maximo E. Lama, MD are sending you a special invitation! Did you know that Spirometry Day, a Lung Doctor’s special event, 2013 is coming?
We invite you to celebrate Spirometry Day 2013 with us June 28th, 2013, from 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
We will gather in the Lighthouse Conference Room at Florida Lung, Asthma and Sleep Studies Center, 400 Celebration Place, Celebration, FL 34747 RSVP 407-303-4515
Welcome to free Spirometry Screenings!
Enjoy Some Tasty Refreshments!
Discover the facts behind Bronchial Thermoplasty!
We only offer this delightful, free and healthy fun once a year! We now join our regularly scheduled blog program listed below, brought to you by the Lung Doctors, and starring your very own macrophages!
Lung Anatomy And Alcohol: Seven Cellular Level Lessons From The Florida Lung Doctors
When it comes to alcohol and damage to the human body, the liver always takes the spotlight. The Florida Lung Doctors want you to know that alcohol can also damage your lungs at the cellular level. Put simply, here is a little bit of anatomy about what happens to your lung tissue, or to the lung tissue of your loved one, when you or he/she, drink too much, too often, and smoke cigarettes at the same time:
1. First, allow us to introduce you to your Alveolar Macrophage function, also called AM. Your lungs have hundreds of millions of macrophages. George Leikauf, professor of environmental and occupational Health at the University of Pittsburgh, explained their role: “The term derives from macro = big + phage = cell that eats.”
2. Second, you should know that Particulate Matter, referred to as PM, is made up of automotive, industrial, and environmental waste processes. The amazing macrophages, described above, are cells that actually eat bacteria and clear out PM’s from your lungs. Experts can now prove that alcohol dulls their talent. You can read more about these specialized cells at this excellent source.
3. Too many PM’s, such as all of those found in cigarettes, can predispose you to all types of lung disease. AM safeguards the lungs from the PM’s, the Particulate Matter inhalation, in your environment.
4. To be clear, the Florida Lung Doctors explain that Good Alveolar Macrophage function has the ability to both remove the particulates from the airway, and to secrete the elements that allow your airway to repair itself from attack by particulate matter. Recent studies have proven that, at a basic chemical level, alcohol inhibits this ability.
5. Researchers have discovered that Chronic drinking causes unrelenting oxidative stress in the lungs. Of course, this leads to damaged AM function as well as weakened immune responses. Because so many chronic drinkers suffer with pnuemonia, studies are being done on “the alcoholic lung.” The study “Chronic alcohol ingestion renders the lung epithelium susceptible to acute injury by alteration in granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor signaling and alveolar epithelial permeability,” was carried out by David Guidot, Pratibha Joshi, Jesse Roman, Lou Ann Brown and Michael Koval of Emory University in Atlanta. Guidot and Joshi are also associated with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Atlanta.
6. In fact, new studies have proven that chronic drinking, “when coupled with particulate matter (PM) exposure,” seriously decreases lung function when compared to either alcohol consumption by itself, or PM exposure alone.
7. The obvious conclusion is that chronic drinking while smoking is a deadly combination. The alcohol is crippling the microphages, while at the same time, the PM’s are demanding them to perform at their peak strength. When bacteria enters the picture, this double whammy can allow a lower respiratory infection to develop. With chronic and constant exposure to strong drinks, strong cigarette smoke, and weakened macrophages, you could even develop pneumonia, the third highest cause of death in the USA.