Causes of Respiratory distress syndrome

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Respiratory distress syndrome may occur in newborn, premature babies whose lungs are not fully developed and do not inflate fully after birth. This is the result of there being too little of a substance known as a surfactant, which acts as a kind of detergent or wetting agent to lower the surface tension of the fluid in the lungs.

In adults, the syndrome may be caused by:

any form of lung infection,
inhalation of irritant fluids such as vomit, or irritant gases such as chlorine, phosgene, ozone or smoke,
breathing high oxygen concentrations,
near drowning,
narcotic overdose, and
unusual reactions to certain other drugs, such as nitrofurantoin.

The lung defects cause a reduced level of oxygen in the blood. This prompts a reflex increase in the rate of breathing. The increased stiffness of the lungs makes breathing much more difficult, and the person is forced to make much stronger efforts to breathe than normal. The result is increasing distress.