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Why does a person with severe emphysema sometimes use a portable oxygen tank?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Because their lungs are full of tar and death.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
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Do people with emphysema have a higher or lower breathing rate than someone who does not have the disease?
Emphysema causes a higher breathing rate. A person with emphysema can be "air hungry" even when getting external oxygen by mask or cannula.
What is the oxygen level of a person with emphysema?
yes, it also depends on the person, a doctor may have you carry an O2 tank around
What type of home oxgen products are available for a person who has emphysema or COPD and that has already shown an intollerance to positive oxygen in hospital when in a acute brething situation?
An oxygen concentrator instead of bottled oxygen
What is destruction of the alveoli?
The lungs will not be able to process enough oxygen to keep the body working, and the person will die unless given supplemental oxygen. Emphysema (damaged alveoli) is a progressively debilitating disease.
Is emphysema caused from a person's lifestyle?
NO, emphysema cannot be solely blamed on a person's lifestyle. Emphysema is caused by any of a number of lung irritants, which affect the alveoli and trigger the production of excess phlegm.
How does emphysema affect the other systems in the body?
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 does emphysema affect the removal of CO2 from the blood and delivery of oxygen to cells?
In emphysema there is actual breakdown of the alveoli; the tiny air sacs where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged in the lungs. When they are broken down they are replaced with scar tissues and and a loss of surface area. Human lungs have an area about the size of a tennis court when all the alveoli are healthy. A person with emphysema may have only a fraction of that available area for the gas exchange to occur. That is why they end up needing a respirator, so more concentrated oxygen can enter their partially functioning lungs so that they can get enough oxygen into their blood stream.
How does emphysema affect your life?
Emphysema is a disease that destroys the tiny air sacs in your lungs. In this case it can even cause lung cancer. A person with advanced emphysema uses 80% of his/her energy to breathe.
Would a person with emphysema have trouble climbing stairs?
Yes
What controle your breathing?
The brainstem and certain respiratory feedback systems control breathing. The main feedback system is the interplay between carbon dioxide and oxygen. When oxygen levels drop, it triggers us to take another breath. In conditions with brain damage, the brainstem function is unable to initiate independent breaths. And with severe damage to the brainstem itself, a person cannot initiate breathing on his or her own. Interestingly, in chronic lung conditions like emphysema, carbon dioxide rather than oxygen levels play a more important role in triggering the next breath, because in emphysema the body adjusts to a higher CO2 level. A healthy person may require 8 liters of administered oxygen per minute, but 8-liters per min for an emphysema patient would kill them (emphysema patients typically receive about 2-liters of O2 per minute instead of a higher rate). you have CO2 sensors in your brain, when they sence a high level of CO2 in the blood they issue an order to breathe. sometimes when people hyperventilate the CO2 level drops so low the order is "no need, stop breathing" and they panic, that's why you sometimes place a paper bag for them to breathe from
Quit smoking will emphysema get worse?
Emphysema is a disease which does tend to get worse once it appears. However, it will get worse faster if a person continues to smoke.
Explain the effects of the loss of elasticity in the gaseous exchange system of a person with emphysema?
People with emphysema will be... 1. Short of breath and have to breath in and out alot more than a healthy person, because there tidal volume has decreased so cannot hold as much gas. 2.The surface area of the alveoli is reduced. 3.The reduced surface area of the alveoli means that they can sometimes burst.
