This category includes respiratory disorders not included elsewhere, where the normal functioning of the lung is compromised.

See also Map 10 All respiratory deaths, Map 55 Asthma, Map 63 Bronchitis, Map 88 Chronic lower respiratory diseases, Map 94 Industrial lung diseases, Map 102 Influenza and Map 105 Pneumonia.

Towns and cities in England, to the west of the Pennines in particular and/or with an industrial history more closely linked to pollutants of the lungs, feature strongly. So too do areas where smoking rates in the past tended to be highest. In contrast south of the East and West Midlands, in mid Wales (between the slate and the coal) and in north Yorkshire (between the mills and the mines) rates tend to be especially low. Diseases which largely kill in old age tend to reflect a longer history of the environmental factors experienced by the populations of each place, but also a longer history of the effects of selective migration sorting people out between the places in which they live just before they die.

The lung disorders in this category, such as interstitial lung disease, can be caused by chronic exposure to dust, fumes and vapours, exposure to which can occur in a variety of industrial settings and in the environments in which those industries are located.

The large majority of people who die from this cause are over the age of 50. Older women are affected more than are older men. Premature babies can die of respiratory distress syndrome, and infants from epiglottitis.