Info?

[roper]

My father was just diagnosed with emphysema, and i was just kind of wondering what that means, what is emphysema, what are the symptoms, is it life threatening, how will it affect his life?  i am very concerned and need some help with my questions.

[National Jewish]

Emphysema is a chronic lung disease linked with cigarette smoking and worsened by contact with industrial dusts and other toxins.  It is a disease that worsens over time.  There is relatively irreversible obstruction of airflow and actual destruction of the airsacs in the lung.  Normally the airsacs of the lung look like a bunch of grapes.  Emphysema causes destruction of the walls between the airsacs.  Over time these individual airsacs become one large airsac called a bullae.  When this happens there is less surface area for oxygen to get from the lungs into the blood and for carbon dioxide to get from the blood into the lungs to be exhaled.  When a person’s lungs reach the point where they cannot provide the body with enough oxygen, then supplemental oxygen is needed.  This helps to lighten the workload on the heart, so that it doesn’t become enlarged.  The most common complaint with emphysema is shortness of breath.

It is very difficult to tell you how it will effect your father’s life because every person is effected so differently by emphysema.  In large part the degree that his life is effected will depend on how severe his emphysema is now.  If his emphysema is severe, there will be a major impact on his lifestyle.  If his emphysema is mild, there will be almost no impact on his lifestyle.  The other thing that can be said is that emphysema will worsen at a faster rate as long as cigarette smoking continues.  If your father is smoking it will definitely impact his lifestyle decreasing his quality of life and possibly his life expectancy.  It is not possible to say that quitting smoking will stop the progression of emphysema, but it will slow down the rate of progression.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is a program to maintain or bring back his quality of life through aerobic exercise done on a regular basis.  When done routinely, this conditions the entire body so that the muscles are working as efficiently as possible.  This allows the breathing muscles to use the least amount of energy to move air in and out of the lungs.  Over time this helps to lessen shortness of breath.  Some programs will also include education about emphysema and nutrition.  Look for a program that is under the supervision of a lung specialist, also called a pulmonologist.  In such a program, your father would have a thorough evaluation of all aspects of his condition.  Following this evaluation, this doctor would be the best resource to answer your questions more specifically as they apply to your father.  Please read our Pulmonary Rehabilitation MedFact at http://www.nationaljewish.org/medfacts/pulmonary.html for more information.  Share this information with his doctor to see if this would be helpful and where in his area there are programs.

[starion]

There's a lot of GREAT free info at www.NationalJewish.org, particularly their MedFacts and Understanding series about COPD and emphysema.
You can also ask your local branch of the American Lung Association to send you free info.  You can also check out on-line sites like www.copd-support.com.  Work with your dad's doc--help him to stop smoking & avoid all lung irritants, and follow the doc's advice.  We can live LONG & FULL lives with emphysema with proper care, diet & exercise.
Aloha,
Starion