Emphysema and Smoking – What You Need to Know

 

Emphysema is a preventable chronic lung disease that causes the sufferer to struggle to breathe properly. Learn more here.

It’s a preventable disease because the leading cause of it is smoking. In fact 80 percent of those who acquire it are smokers.

The disease generally comes about due to the toxic chemicals given off from cigarettes.

Those who suffer from this chronic disease are mostly individuals who have been smokers for many years and are 40 years of age and older. Exposure to secondhand smoke on a long-term basis is also believed to be a factor in developing the disease.

This disease is seldom seen in non-smoking individuals.

It’s a progressive disease that’ll continue to worsen over the passage of time and not only imapct your longevity but also the quality of the life you live now. There is no known cure at the present time for emphysema.

Appropriate medical treatment cannot reverse or repair damage that has already been done to your lungs but it can slow the damage down.

Emphysema falls under the category of COPD, which is to say it’s a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Once lung tissue has been damaged this leads to narrowed airways and can destroy the lungs.

A little explanation of what is going on may help the discussion.

Alveoli are the name given to the natural airspace of the lungs. The lungs of a person suffering from emphysema are less elastic in nature which means the airspace has difficulty in terms of expanding and shrinking. This leads to breathing problems because there is a smaller quantity of oxygen that is able to be carried from the lungs to the bloodstream. This is why an individual with emphysema struggles to breathe.

The breathing of a person with this serious lung disease is labored and distinctly different from a person with no lung problems.

Presently COPD is the fourth leading cause of death across the country. Studies report other leading cases of death such as heart disease and cancers are on the decline but the rates for COPD continue to gain ground.

Shortness of breath is the most common symptom of emphysema. Having a constant cough and wheezing are two other symptoms likely to be present in emphysema sufferers. The cough is brought on because of mucus production.

People with emphysema often have what is described as purse-lipped breathing. This is when exhaling becomes extremely problematic due to the fact the airways are narrower than they are supposed to be and in some cases have collapsed completely.

The person will purse their lips to inhale and the air will only have a tiny passageway to travel through. When it comes time to exhale, the lips block the air. This in turn increases the level of pressure in the airways. The airways can only open up to the best of their capacity but as we have learned, they are very limited in this way.

If you have any of the symptoms described here or have been diagnosed with emphysema and smoke then you should seriously consider quitting. The sooner the better – if only for achieving a better quality of life.

Becca Scott
Staff Writer
Free At Last Hypnosis
http://www.freeatlasthypnosis.com
http://www.smoke-free-at-last.com