What is emphysema?
Emphysema is a lung condition that causes shortness of breath. Over time, emphysema damages the thin walls of the alveoli. The most common cause of the pathology is tobacco.
Treatment can relieve symptoms and slow the progression of the disease, but the damage cannot be reversed.
The following symptoms are characteristic of emphysema:
- Shortness of breath, especially with physical activity;
- Wheezing, wheezing when exhaling;
- Cough;
- A feeling of heaviness in the chest;
- Fatigue;
- Weight loss and swelling of the ankles.
Initially, patients avoid the type of activity that causes shortness of breath, but as the pathology progresses, discomfort occurs even when they are at rest.
Be sure to consult a doctor if you have been experiencing shortness of breath for several months and cannot be attributed to anything, especially if it prevents you from performing daily activities.
Immediately contact the emergency department of the clinic if you have the following symptoms:
- You have difficulty breathing or speaking;
- Your lips or fingernails have turned blue or gray with physical activity;
- Others notice that your mental state is not in order.
Emphysema occurs due to irritants in the air (tobacco, smog, dust, chemical particles, etc.). In rare clinical cases, the cause is genetics.
Source:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/emphysema/symptoms-causes/syc-20355555
