Emphysema: What is it? Causes, Symptoms and Methods of Treatment

Emphysema of the lungs is a fairly common chronic disease. According to statistics, this disease is most often diagnosed in elderly men, although women and even young people may also face a similar problem. Why does emphysema appear? What it is? What are the symptoms and treatment of the disease? These questions are interesting to many people.

Emphysema: What is it?

Such a disease is accompanied by the development of increased airiness of the lung tissue. With emphysema, there is too much stretching of the pulmonary alveoli and, correspondingly, an increase in lung volume. Excess air, which accumulates in the lungs "bags" does not participate in breathing, but in turn affects the strength and elasticity of tissues. Emphysema can develop as an independent disease or may appear on the background of another disease of the respiratory system, accompanied by obstruction of the airways.

The main causes of emphysema

The disease occurs as a result of various factors. To begin with, it is worth mentioning that there are some birth defects that contribute to an increase in the airiness of the lung tissue. In addition, the disease is often caused by the penetration of certain toxic substances into the respiratory tract, therefore, smokers and people living in an unfavorable ecological environment are at risk.

Obstruction of the tissues of the respiratory system leads to an increase in the pressure in the alveoli and, correspondingly, the stretching of their walls. Therefore today the causes of the disease include bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive bronchitis and some other diseases. The risk of developing emphysema increases with age. In the process of aging, tissues lose elasticity and strength.

There is also a so-called compensatory emphysema. What it is? This type of disease occurs as a result of a fall or removal of a part of the lung.

Symptoms of emphysema

The disease develops slowly. Nevertheless, there are some characteristic symptoms that cause the disease. Emphysema of the lungs is accompanied by shortness of breath. At the initial stages of the problem with breathing, the patient is worried only with physical exertion, but as the lung tissue changes, attacks of suffocation occur even at rest. It is very difficult for patients to exhale, and the skin during the attack acquires a pinkish hue.

Symptoms include dry cough, which is accompanied by the allocation of sparse thick sputum. In connection with the constant tension of the respiratory muscles, a sharp decrease in weight is observed. The shape of the chest also changes, it becomes barrel-shaped. Due to respiratory insufficiency , oxygen starvation of tissues develops, which is accompanied by a number of signs, in particular pallor and cyanosis of the skin, thickening of the fingers, chronic fatigue.

How to treat emphysema?

Such a disease is extremely dangerous, because prolonged hypoxia primarily causes disturbances in the work of the nervous system. Deterioration of memory, confusion, epileptic seizures - all these are extremely dangerous signs. That's why you should ask for medical help as soon as possible. Only a specialist knows why it arises and what symptoms are accompanied by emphysema, what kind of illness and what methods of treatment should be given preference.

Therapy must necessarily be comprehensive. Patients are prescribed drugs that dilate the bronchi and eliminate the symptoms of the disease. Massage, breathing exercises, correctly selected physical exercises, as well as mucolytic drugs will facilitate the departure of phlegm and improve ventilation of the lungs. People with emphysema are more prone to infectious diseases, in such cases, doctors prescribe antibiotics and immunomodulatory medications.