Understanding and treating emphysema

Every day the average person takes about 17,000 breaths, but emphysema can make each one a real struggle. If you have emphysema, there are steps you can take to breathe more easily and improve your quality of life.

• Your lungs are packed with tiny air sacs called alveoli, which are ringed by microscopic blood vessels (capillaries). In healthy lungs, air flows easily in and out, and oxygen passes efficiently into the capillaries while carbon dioxide, the waste product, returns to the lungs and is exhaled
• With emphysema, alveoli deform; they lose their elasticity and decrease in numbers, making breathing difficult
• A persistent, mucus-producing cough and shortness of breath are the first and most obvious symptoms of emphysema, and probably what brought you to the doctor. Some people with emphysema describe the effort to draw enough air into their lungs as "trying to breathe through a pillow"
• As the disease progresses, so does your breathing difficulty. In advanced stages, people often fight for air after just a few steps
• Emphysema also taxes your heart by forcing it to work harder to circulate blood through the lungs
• Some 90 percent of cases of emphysema are triggered by long-term cigarette smoking; irritants in the smoke inflame alveoli walls, and over time they lose their elasticity and may break down, making it more and more difficult to breathe
• About three percent of cases are the ­result of an inherited genetic abnormality called alpha-1-anti­trypsin (AAT) deficiency
• Exposure to air-borne irritants, such as coal dust, grain particles, smoke or textile fibers, may also lead to emphysema

• Smoking cessation to slow progression of the disease
• Medications to ease breathing and fight infections
• Avoidance of air pollutants to protect against irritation
• Breathing techniques to strengthen your breathing muscles

• Enroll in an outpatient rehab program. Health professionals will guide you through aerobic exercise and breathing techniques, answer questions, provide education and direct you to support groups for pulmonary patients. Such programs improve your ability to cope with emphysema
• Plan before air travel. Increase your mobility by ordering supplemental oxygen equipment supplied by airlines before flying. Airlines will not allow you to bring your own oxygen unit on board the aircraft
• Maintain your weight. It’s easy to lose weight because laboured breathing consumes a lot of calories and makes eating difficult. Each day, eat several smaller meals of nutritionally rich foods, and take a high-potency vitamin and mineral supplement

• The Canadian Lung Association provides free research and information to help you quit smoking, clean your humidifier properly, compare prescription drugs and manage emphysema, among other respiratory diseases
• Determined to quit smoking? Learn about proven techniques from Health Canada
• BreathWorks is the Canadian Lung Association’s new public health program that helps people living with COPD. Learn what you need to know and what you need to do
• The US National Emphysema Foundation provides reliable, comprehensive information about this condition. It also offers the latest on promising new treatments and gives you the opportunity to exchange messages with others who have emphysema

Emphysema is a serious, generally irreversible disease, but you can minimize emphysema’s impact on your life with the proper treatment plan.