Emphysema and Smoking: A Nasty Relationship
What is Emphysema? When you think about the long term damaging effects of smoking, certain diseases come to mind. Emphysema is one of the most common diseases that results from smoking cigarettes. Emphysema is a progressive lung disease that destroys the capillary blood vessels. When this happens, it limits the amount of air that you can get into your lungs because air and blood can’t mix, which reduces the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Symptoms of Emphysema Emphysema is a sub-type or earlier stage of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. The symptoms of emphysema include the following: Shortness of breath Wheezing Coughing Chest tightness or pain At first, these symptoms will be most noticeable when you’re exercising or being active. However, as the disease progresses, eventually you will…
