Healthy lungs can do this normally, while Emphysema patients do not. When the lungs loose their elasticity, the patient experiences difficulty exhaling. These areas of the lungs become enlarged trapping the "stale" air (14). The over stretched and torn air sacs cannot hold much fresh air and therefore, cannot fully release stale, carbon dioxide-containing air (1). As the air sacs are destroyed, the lungs are able to transfer less and less oxygen into the blood. This is what causes shortness of breath. The rest of the body is not ensured adequate oxygen supply to the rest of the body (11). The abnormal condition of the pulmonary system can be by characterized by over inflation and destructive changes (4). The over inflation, brings on breathlessness (2), while the lungs and heart are being serio!.
usly damaged also (15). .
Emphysema is part of a large group of lung diseases that can interfere with normal breathing known as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) (1). The two most important conditions that compose COPD are Emphysema and Chronic Bronchitis (14) COPD is a growing problem and has increased dramatically (15). It is estimated 11% of the U.S. has COPD (14). In 1993, 1.9 million people in the U.S. had emphysema alone (2). From 1972 to 1992 the number of lives claimed by chronic lung disease almost doubled (15). Today, Chronic Bronchitis and emphysema combined are the most common lung diseases affecting 15.8 million people in the U.S. (15) There is another 16 million estimated people to have COPD but have not been formally diagnosed (17). COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S and the third leading cause for disability (24?). .
While some patients with COPD have only chronic Bronchitis or Emphysema, most have a combination of both (14). Some people may get chronic bronchitis before developing emphysema (1). It is most common among people over the age of 50 (2), but males are more likely to develop emphysema by as much as 22% (2) (15).