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Emphysema
Emphysema can best be characterized as the progressive destruction
of the grape-like air sacs (alveoli) that perform the lung's basic function
of exchanging oxygen in the air for carbon dioxide in the cardiovascular
system.
The small air sacs are unable to completely deflate (over inflation) and
unable to fill with fresh air for adequate ventilation. Emphysema is not
reversible, but the disease is manageable through medications, exercise
and good nutrition.
In emphysema caused by smoking, which constitutes the majority of cases,
the very small airways (bronchioles) that join the alveoli are damaged and
the walls lose elasticity.
Pockets of dead air form in the damaged lung areas restricting the ability
to exhale, reducing normal lung function. Inhalation is not usually impaired
in the early stages, but in the late stages of the disease, oxygen and carbon
dioxide levels are abnormal and breathing becomes labored.
Emphysema patients have typically lost between 50% and 70% of their lung
function by the time symptoms begin to appear.
Experts believe the process leading to emphysema is mostly due to an imbalance
in chemicals that protect the lungs from infection and damage. Any condition
that causes an imbalance in these substances may trigger emphysema.
Cigarette smoke contains irritants that inflame the air passages, setting
off these biochemical events that damage cells in the lung, thus increasing
the risk both for emphysema and lung cancer.
Because smoking is overwhelmingly the cause of emphysema and chronic bronchitis,
they often develop together and frequently require similar treatments.
In a rare, inherited form of emphysema known as alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency,
both the walls of the bronchioles and alveoli to which they connect, usually
in the lower lungs, are diseased.
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Illustration: AMA
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