Most of us know at least a couple of people who have emphysema and/or bronchitis. In almost every case, these two serious lung diseases occur in people who have been heavy smokers for most of their lives or have been exposed to excessive amounts of chemicals.
One of the hallmark symptoms of emphysema is chronic shortness of breath with a productive cough, sometimes accompanied by wheezing. These symptoms are a result of the loss of lung volume that is indicative of these diseases. It’s normal for us to lose a small amount of lung tissue due to the aging process, but this loss accelerates in heavy smokers and during ongoing exposure to certain chemicals.
Emphysema is a disease in which the lungs lose their elasticity. Because the lungs are not working efficiently, it becomes difficult for the blood to receive enough oxygen and to give off its carbon dioxide since it does this through the lungs. As a result, the amount of oxygen in the blood goes down while the carbon dioxide content increases. If the carbon dioxide levels go too high, a person with emphysema will first start breathing very rapidly in an effort to get more oxygen into the lungs but may then stop breathing. He will then need to be placed on a ventilator, which will require that a tube be inserted through the mouth and into the lungs.
There are two types of emphysema. One is called blue bloater, and it appears most often in people who are overweight. They tend to have chronic bouts with bronchitis and produce large amounts of secretions from their lungs. The second group are referred to as pink puffers. They are people who are thin, small framed, and extremely frail. Ultimately, however, the blue bloaters will also lose weight since it requires so much effort to breathe, while the pink puffers will get even thinner.
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