What Is Emphysema?

D.Z., a 65-year-old man, is admitted to a medical floor for exacerbation of his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; emphysema). He has a past medical history of hypertension, which has been well controlled by Enalapril (Vasotec) for the past 6 years. He has had pneumonia yearly for the past 3 years, and has been a 2-pack-a-day smoker for 38 years. He appears as a cachectic man who is experiencing difficulty breathing at rest. He reports cough productive of thick yellow-green sputum. D.Z. seems irritable and anxious; he complains of sleeping poorly and states that lately feels tired most of the time. His vital signs (VS) are 162/84, 124, 36, 102 F, SaO2 88%. His admitting diagnosis is an acute

As a result of emphysema there is a significant loss of alveolar attachments, which contributes to peripheral airway collapse. There are two major types of emphysema according to the distribution within the acinus and they are; (i) centrolobular emphysema which involves dilatation and destruction of the respiratory bronchioles; and (ii) panlobular emphysema which involves destruction of the whole of the acinus. According to theory, centrolobular is the most common type of emphysema in COPD and is more prominent in the upper zones, while panlobular predominates in patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and is more prominent in the lower zones. In relation to patients D.Z. with emphysema, the walls between the tiny air sacs in the lungs are damaged due to long-term cigarette smoking effect on his lungs as evidenced by patient c/o difficulty breathing at rest and productive cough with thick yellow-green sputum r/t a

A female patient 83 years of age has been diagnosed with Emphysema and has had this disease for 10 years. She has been in good shape her whole life and has been big into health and fitness. However, the critical etiological risk factor was that she participated in tobacco smoking for a brief period of her 20’s. She was informed of the disease by visiting a general practioner and therefore getting referred to a respiratory specialist. The laboratory tests used to establish her diagnosis included a lung function test, X ray and sleep apnoea test in hospital overnight. Her most common symptoms include shortness of

Emphysema is the most common cause of death from respiratory disease in the United States and is generally caused by several years of heavy cigarette smoking (Olendorf, 2000). When a person smokes, the body’s immune system tries to fight off the invading smoke by using certain substances. These substances can also attack the cells of the lungs, but normally the body is able to release other substances to prevent this. In the case of people who are smokers, this doesn’t happen and the original substances that were released to fight off the smoke also end up injuring the cells of the lungs as well. Eventually, the lungs will not be able to supply enough oxygen to the blood and a host of problems can occur with this. Risk factors that have been identified for emphysema include exposure to tobacco smoke either through active or passive smoking (2nd hand smoke), occupational exposure such as dust or chemicals, ambient air pollution, or genetic abnormalities, including a deficiency of alpha-antitrypsin, an enzyme inhibitor that normally counteracts the destruction of lung tissue by certain other enzymes (Smeltzer, 2010). The symptoms of emphysema develop gradually over many years. It is generally characterized by three primary symptoms: chronic cough, sputum production, and dyspnea on exertion. Other signs and symptoms include weight loss and the development of a

Shortness of breath and wheezing are classical signs of COPD. The first part of the essay is discussed on pathophysiology of COPD. Another part is going to be informing on the pharmacology aspect of treating the disease. Nutrition also plays as a critical component of relieving the symptoms of the disease or aiding the work of medication. One of the signs that COPD can be established as a primary cause of illness is by receiving lab report on Arterial Blood Gases ABG.

First step preventing COPD is to know how it affects the body and the path taken; this is called the pathology. In normal, healthy breathing a person breathes in air that is moves through the bronchial tubes to the bronchioles. At the end of the bronchioles there are air sacs called alveoli. The alveoli are elastic air sacs that control the gas exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide to the body (Smoking, 2016). The alveoli consist of elastic tissue so when a person breaths in the the alveoli can expand and when the carbon dioxide is released it can deflate and return to it’s normal size.

Patients with COPD become short of breath, hyperventilate and become very tired by using all efforts on respiratory and axillary muscles in order to breath and effects their activity of daily living such as walking up the stairs, putting on socks/shoes. On physical assessment, patient would be observed the appearance of the thoracic cage, for any deformity, an inadequate chest expansion and auscultation for adventitious sounds. Patients with COPD are often diagnosed with emphysema, where alveoli of the lungs damaged and these damaged tiny sacs cannot be seen directly in physical exam. There are diagnostic tests would be necessary to perform such as CT or X-ray scans of the chest. Additional tests would be performed to measure pulmonary function test, arterial blood gases and sputum collection if necessary to determine any bacteria growth in respiratory

Emphysema is a disease that in not only caused by the way you live, but can be contracted through the area in which a person lives. For example, people who live in urban areas are at higher risk. This is due to the fact that these areas are more highly populated with factories and cluttered with automobiles. These factories produce a great deal of smoke which can be very harmful to the lungs of the people who inhale it. The automobile exhaust has the same affect on the lungs if inhaled for

The main characterizing feature of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is that there is limitation of airflow because the smoke of cigarette directly damages the epithelial cells of the

Emphysema affects the parenchyma of the lung through destruction of the alveolar walls, leading to permanent enlargement of air spaces distal to the

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, also known as COPD, is the third leading cause of death in the United States. COPD includes extensive lungs diseases such as emphysema, non-reversible asthma, specific forms of bronchiectasis, and chronic bronchitis. This disease restricts the flow of air in and out of the lungs. Ways in which these limitations may occur include the loss of elasticity in the air sacs and throughout the airways, the destruction of the walls between air sacs, the inflammation or thickening of airway walls, or the overproduction of mucus in airways which can lead to blockage. Throughout this paper I am going to explain the main causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and ways to reduce COPD.

However, Haas and Haas stated that “older men, low income people, blue-collar workers, and social pressured people are diagnosis with emphysema (1990, p. 7).” People who have smoked for twenty years or more, and young adults are at greater risk of developing emphysema because of the number of years that they have smoke. Also, young adults who started smoking as a teenager are at risk of getting emphysema because they started when their lungs have not reach total function.

The most common symptom is shortness of breath. Furthermore, cough that is caused by the production of mucus and wheezing are also symptoms of emphysema. Shortness of breath is also one of the symptom, which is normally unnoticeable, especially for smoker and other related medical problems. Due to this symptoms, tolerance for exercise activities decreased over time. Emphysema usually develops slowly.

HOW DOES EMPHYSEMA DEVELOP? Emphysema begins with the destruction of air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs where oxygen from the air is exchanged for carbon dioxide in the blood. The walls of the air sacs are thin and fragile. Damage to the air sacs is irreversible and results in permanent "holes" in the tissues of the lowerlungs.

The simple act of breathing is often taken for granted. As an automated function sustaining life, most of us do not have to think about the act of breathing. However, for many others, respiratory diseases make this simple act thought consuming. Emphysema is one such disease taking away the ease, but instead inflicting labored breathing and a hope for a cure.