Emphysema is a type of COPD- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This disease occurs when the alveoli (air sacs) in the lungs are damaged and the body fails to get the sufficient energy it requires to function normally. This makes the person find difficulty in breathing and get chronic coughs. The trouble during breathing is mostly experienced when doing physical exercises.
The leading cause of this disease is smoking. Smoking gradually destroys the air sacs at the ends of the bronchioles (smallest air passages). This will limit the flow of air out of your lungs when you are breathing out.
Treatment of this disease depends on how intense the damage is. There is an array of treatment options available for people suffering from this disease including: oxygen, inhalers, and medications. Sometimes surgery may be required in severe cases to prevent complications and relieve some of the symptoms.
If the situation is not addressed at all or early enough, this disease turns the air sacs that are normally spherical to large, irregular pockets with big holes gaping in the inner walls. It is horrific just to imagine this happening to you, isn’t it? This means that the numbers of your air sacs are reduced and so most of oxygen coming into your lungs does not reach your blood stream.
The treatment available for this disease does not reverse the present situation. Some of the general symptoms one can use to tell whether they are suffering from this disease include: wheezing, chronic coughing, shortness of breath, tightness in the chest, fatigue and loss of appetite and weight. These symptoms are normally mild at the start and gradually grow worse with time.
When you are having all these symptoms or most of them, it is advisable to pay a visit to your doctor immediately. They may just indicate that your lungs are not functioning properly and you should therefore get them checked out.
Isn’t prevention better than cure? Anyway, there are a few things that you can easily change about your lifestyle that will keep you off harm’s way. The most dangerous habit that puts you at a great risk of getting this disease is smoking tobacco. There are over 4,000 dangerous chemicals in cigarettes. These chemicals are harmful even to the person getting second hand smoking. They destroy the bronchioles and cause the extensive damage to your lungs that causes emphysema.
Protein deficiency can also cause this disease. An inherited deficiency of the protein called AAt will make the lungs weak since this protein is supposed to protect the elastic structures found in the lungs. In smokers, the lack of this protein will begin by the time they clock 30 to 40 years of age. Without this protein, the enzymes slowly cause the lung damage and that results in this disease.
People who are often exposed to seconded hand smoking should also take care as this will increase the chance of them getting this disease. Exposure to fumes from dust grains or chemicals like cotton, mining products, and cotton or wood products is also dangerous.
