disturbed

I posted a ? a couple of weeks ago about my mothers lungs. I made a mistake she has 65% of her lungs that are Not working.
So only having 35% left how much longer can she go on?

[National Jewish]

Emphysema is a chronic lung disease linked with cigarette smoking.  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 in 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

[starion]

So much depends on many factors, including your mom's other conditions, overall health & conditioning, exposure to lung irritants and smoking, use of any precribed oxygen, infections, and other factors.  This issue is best discussed with your mom's doctors.  In addition, it may be helpful to inquire about whether pulmonary rehabilitation may be helpful to your mom.

Folks CAN & DO live full and active lives with even less than 35% of predicted lung function, but it IS more challenging.  You can get additional free general info by calling your local chapter of the American Lung Association and requesting it.  You can also read excellent material at www.NationalJewish.org, particularly their MedFacts and Understanding series.  Best of luck.

Aloha,
Starion