How to tell signs of emphysema

Emphysema is a lung disease caused principally by smoking. It is a progressive disease that requires constant attention to help breathe as normally as possible. It is known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

When Emphysema is at a more advanced stage, breathing becomes difficult because the lung is not able to inhale oxygen sufficiently.

Cause of Emphysema

In Emphysema patients, the air sacs become larger because of the damage caused to the walls of the small air sacs. It makes it difficult for people to exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen thus impairing the respiratory system.

The principal cause is smoking. The smoke inhaled reaches deep into the lungs. Emphysema is a disease that develops gradually. It is unlikely that someone will develop Emphysema after a short period of smoking.

Other prominent causes are:

• Exposure to air pollution. In areas with high levels of toxic waste
• Exposure to secondary smoking. This is inhaling smoke while other people smoke the cigarettes.

Symptoms of Emphysema

Symptoms of emphysema can be difficult to detect because the traditional symptoms of shortness of breath, tight feeling in the chest, constant feeling of tiredness, does not show up until the disease has progressed almost to an irreversible state.

Emphysema symptoms are very similar to other diseases of the lungs, especially those caused by smoking, dry cough

Treatment for emphysema

The best treatment for Emphysema, if detected early, is to give up smoking at once. However, as stated earlier, the disease can reaches a situation where it is not possible to reverse the disease can become almost impossible. The best solution at the point is probably to delay the progression of Emphysema.

Emphysema patients will be given Bronchodilators that help relax bronchioles, which help to oxygenate and release carbon dioxide from the lungs.

Treating the symptoms

Sometimes, the best a person with emphysema can do is to treat the symptoms because of the difficulty in treating the cause. Because its almost asthmatic in nature due to the difficulty in oxygen inhalation, a person can use an inhaler, usually given to asthmatic patients, to alleviate breathing.

Other simple measures you can take involve the process of breathing properly, which would allow sufficient inhalation of oxygen and exhalation of carbon dioxide.

• Avoid fatty foods, especially oily fats
• Increase intake of protein
• Gentle exercise such as walking everyday