The inside of a healthy lung resembles a smooth, pink honeycomb. Attached to the capillaries are 300 million tiny air sacs, or alveoli, where oxygen is exchanged and introduced into the bloodstream. But for emphysema sufferers, these alveoli become damaged and the lungs appear craterous, reminiscent of the moon’s surface.

This progressive condition destroys the delicate walls of the alveoli as the lungs become inflamed. As a result, the tiny capillaries collapse, which, over time, can lead to the rupturing of the air sacs. This leaves behind a larger, less elastic space that makes breathing less efficient and more difficult.

Most frequently, emphysema is brought on by smoking cigarettes. That’s because smoke interferes with the cilia that line the bronchial tubes, which leads to inflammation over a period of several years. In fact, 91 percent of the 3 million Americans with emphysema are 45 years of age or older. For a small group, a genetic disorder can also raise the risk of this lung disease. These people have chronically low levels of a protein called alpha-1 antitrypsin, an enzyme that protects the lungs from injury caused by cigarette smoke. As a result, smokers with this abnormal gene often develop severe emphysema before the age of 40; nonsmokers with it are largely unaffected.

Unfortunately, the damage caused by emphysema is irreversible. Physicians can only prescribe treatments to control the symptoms, which include trouble breathing, fatigue, and a chronic cough. The treatments include inhaled steroids, bronchodilators that open constricted airways, and supplemental oxygen. Severe cases may lead to heart failure as well as lung failure, and they often require surgery or a lung transplant.

ADDITIONAL FACTS

  1. Smoking cigars and pipes also raises the risk of emphysema.
  2. The word emphysema is derived from a Greek word meaning “to blow into.”