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Emphysema

Emphysema is a lung disease in which tissues needed to support the lungs are destroyed. Emphysema is one of the several diseases known collectively as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Emphysema is most often caused by smoking.

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Is emphysema a result of cigarette smoking?

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What happens is, when the harsh chemicals of the tobacco in cigarettes reach your lungs, the chemicals make the tiny bronchi fall off and make your lungs work much harder than they are supposed to. This can lead to empysema and many other serious health issues.

Can massage help emphysema?

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Respiratory disorders and diseases are commonly treated with Massage Therapy. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (CaPO); emphysema, bronchitis, and Asthma, are commonly treated with massage therapy. When breathing muscles are taxed and rib cage mobility is decreased, manual therapy treatment can be beneficial by improving forced vital capacity, respiratory rate and chest expansion. Techniques used for people with capo include postural drainage, manipulation of respiratory muscles combined with chest percussion and exercises for breathing and trunk mobilization.

Massage is used for stress reduction:

work rib cage - pectorals, intercostals, serratus anterior, scalenes, rectus abdominis and other areas to facilitate breathing.


What does emphysema increase?

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Basically smoking, as the most common cause of emphysema is smoking itself.

What is surgical emphysema how long can it last?

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air trapped in the tissues following an invasive procedure

How much flem do you cough up to when a person has emphysema?

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A person with emphysema would cough up to about 2 cups of phlegm per day. That would mean in 8 days, they would cough up a gallon of phlegm. Drink up!

Can massage therapy help emphysema?

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Respiratory disorders and diseases are commonly treated with massage therapy. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (CaPO); emphysema, bronchitis, and asthma, are commonly treated with massage therapy. When breathing muscles are taxed and rib cage mobility is decreased, manual therapy treatment can be beneficial by improving forced vital capacity, respiratory rate and chest expansion. Techniques used for people with capo include postural drainage, manipulation of respiratory muscles combined with chest percussion and exercises for breathing and trunk mobilization.

Massage is used for stress reduction:

work rib cage - pectorals, intercostals, serratus anterior, scalenes, rectus abdominis and other areas to facilitate breathing.


Does emphysema hurt?

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A person with emphysema externally presents with a barrel shaped chest. This is due to reduction in the elasticity of lungs. Also, the patient feels shortness of breath, fatigue and gets tired quickly.

What is drug of choice of Emphysema?

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up to this date, albuterol has been the choice medicine for asthma

Why do people with emphysema experience fatigue?

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Because Emphysema decreases the surface area of the alveoli, thus affecting gaseous exchange. The shortness of breath means that the person gradually gets fatter and fatter, therefore it takes more effort to do vigorous exercise. Eventually, they are so fat that they can only roll around to get to places. Badgers are constantly monitoring human movement, they are very clever animals and they can hack into any CCTV system in the world. Once they see this fat person rolling around, a Badger SWAT team is sent out to catch the person and eat them.

Hope this helped! :)

How emphysema reduce the efficiency of gas exchange in the lungs?

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Emphysema and asthma both cause fluid buildup in the lungs and airways causing the body to work harder in order to provide oxygen to the body and to release carbon dioxide from the body. Asthma can also cause airway inflammation.

Explain how the changes in alveolar structure cause a decrease in blood oxygen levels in emphysema?

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Pneumonia fills the lung's alveoli with fluid, keeping oxygen from reaching the bloodstream.

How emphysema affect lung volumes?

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yes tidal volume decreases because the patient is not able to inhale and exhale normally. The victims lungs are expanded and it fills the chest before full volume of air can be inhaled. When the victim exhales, he is not able to fully do so because of the higher residual volume in his lungs.

How does emphysema affect the other systems in the body?

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Emphysema (or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) affects the lungs.

The lung tissue loses its elasticity so that when the person exhales or breathes out, only a little bit of air is expelled. This means that there is less space for the oxygen rich air they breathe in, so someone with emphysema never has enough oxygen. They tend to be pale with blue lips and fingernails, and they use extra muscles to help them breathe, such as the muscles in the neck.

People with emphysema never have enough oxygen and as all the body systems need oxygen to function properly, the whole body is affected.

Emphysema is most often caused by tobacco smoking, but it can be caused through long term exposure to industrial chemicals and toxic dusts.

How can the spread of emphysema be controlled?

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Emphysema does not "spread"-- it is NOT contagious.

However, the incidence of emphysema can be reduced if all countries and persons reduce lung irritants and air pollution. ANY strong chemical is a lung irritant. Smoking is just one of a long list of lung irritants.

How does emphysema affect the health?

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It makes it hard to breath and, if severe, lowers oxygen levels.

Use of accessory muscles in emphysema?

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The accessory muscles of respiration are the sternocleidomastoid, scalenes, serratus anterior, pectoralis major and minor, upper trapezius, latissimus dorsi, erector spinae (thoracic), iliocostalis lumborum, quadratus lumborum, serratus posterior superior and inferior, levatores costarum, transversus thoracis, and subclavius.

The diaphragm is the main muscle of respiration (normal/relaxed breathing), assisted by the intercostals. No accessory muscles should be recruited during normal respiration unless there is a respiratory disorder. During quiet inspiration, the diaphragm and intercostals are activated. During quiet expiration, the inspiratory muscles relax and the elastic recoil of the lung tissue combined with intrathoracic pressure causes air to be pushed out of the lungs. There is little or no respiratory activity of the abdominals.

When increased oxygen is required during physical activity e.g. when running, accessory muscles will activate to assist forced respiration.

Another name for emphysema?

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Emphysema is itself a medical term. It means an abnormal collection of air, either in tissue or, more commonly, in the lungs due to breakdown and deterioration of the alveoli.

What does emphysema affect?

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It reduces the surface area because it reduces the number of alveolar sacs in a persons lungs.

What does a falling blood pH and a rising partial pressure of carbon dioxide due to pneumonia or emphysema indicate?

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Pneumonia will cause decreased oxygenation to tissues resulting in a raise of carbon dioxide. To understand the answer you need to understand the balance of pH and Bicarb. When the carbon dioxide raises the Bicarb reacts and levels fall; therefore, you have compensated respiratory acidosis.

What Is the Affect of Emphysema on Expiratory Reserve Volume?

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Expiratory reserve volume is decreased in a patient with emphysema. This patient will struggle to breathe out because air is getting trapped within the lungs. There is also an increase of co2 in the blood because of the inability for the patient to exhale.

Effects of emphysema?

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Emphysema is a disease of the lung tissue caused by destruction of structures feeding the alveoli, in some cases owing to the consequences of alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency. Smoking is one major cause of this destruction, which results in the collapse of small airways in the lungs during forced exhalation. As a result, airflow is impeded and air becomes trapped, just as in other obstructive lung diseases. Symptoms include shortness of breath ("dyspnea") on exertion and an expanded chest.

People with this disease do not get enough oxygen and suffer a buildup of carbon dioxide in their blood, which generates dyspnea. At first, when emphysema is mild, dyspnea occurs only during physical activity. Eventually, as the disease progresses, dyspnea will occur after even small amounts of physical exertion. On the other hand, if the lungs are compromised badly enough, the victim may feel short of breath all the time - even when at rest, relaxing. Because breathing is more difficult, the person must use accessory muscles to help them breathe; the increased work of breathing, use of additional muscles, and blood gas abnormalities then combine to cause "tachypnea" (rapid breathing), which may continue in a vicious cycle. Individuals with severe emphysema eventually may have trouble coughing and decreased amounts of sputum. They may also lose weight.

The anteroposterior diameter of their chest may increase; this sign is sometimes referred as "barrel chest." They may lean forward with arms extended and/or resting on something to help them breathe ("orthopneic breathing").

When lung auscultation and chest percussion is performed a hyperresonant sound is heard.

The person may also exhibit symptoms of hypoxia-induced cyanosis, or the appearance of a blue-to-purplish discoloration of the skin, because of increased levels of deoxyhemoglobin in the blood.

What are the dangers of emphysema?

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Some of the consequences of emphysema include:

  • lowering of blood oxygenation
  • difficulty of breathing
  • shifts in acid-base balance due to higher respiratory rate
  • excessive sweating during exertion
  • excessive tiredness, fatigue...the person's energy is taken by trying to breathe
  • lung congestion
  • chronic coughing to clear mucous
  • suseptibility to lung infections
  • excess workload on the heart leading to heart disease
  • loss of job, recreation, sexual activities, etc. because of difficulty breathing
  • dependency on supplemental oxygen
  • development of "barrel-chest"
  • changes in lung tissues
  • ultimately, death, either due to low oxygen level or from complications such as lung infections, particularly bronchitis or pneumonia

Emphysema is one of the consequences of smoking BUT emphysema can also be acquired by exposure to many other lung irritants. Other lung irritants include noxious chemicals in the workplace; exposure to noxious and profound smoke, such as in firefighting; diesel fumes surrounding truck drivers; exposure to coal or coke smoke which is in steel mills; coke burning (coversion of coal to coke); exposure to lung irritating paint, varnish, and other such manufacturing.

Emphysema can also be partly genetic, such as Hammond-Rich Syndrome which is closely related to emphysema.