Pulmonary Emphysema (PE) is one form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It’s caused by smoking and other factors, presenting with shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing as symptoms. eventually leading to lung complications and heart failure. Unfortunately, no cure exists yet but treatments can help manage symptoms and slow progression of this illness.
Emphysema damages air sacs within your lungs called alveoli, which help you breathe in and out. Damage from this illness causes them to burst, altering their shape and making breathing harder than necessary. As oxygen enters and carbon dioxide exits through breathing, breathing becomes increasingly challenging over time.
Emphysema symptoms often manifest gradually and may go undetected for some time, leading to its gradual diagnosis. At first it might manifest as shortness of breath or ongoing fatigue; as time progresses it may cause coughing and wheezing during exercise or other activities that strain breathing harder; or you might notice lips or fingernails turning blue from not getting enough oxygen – all sure signs that it’s time to see your doctor.
Stop smoking as soon as possible to reduce emphysema’s progression, avoid air pollution and smoke from wood-burning fireplaces, as well as dust. Vitamin D and calcium supplements may be beneficial, along with flu and pneumonia vaccinations, regular exercise is an essential way to strengthen circulation and strengthen lungs while working out with your doctor can create a personalized fitness plan geared toward you and malnutrition risk may necessitate an individualized diet plan tailored specifically for people living with emphysema.
Your doctor will begin by gathering information about your symptoms, conducting an examination and ordering tests to confirm emphysema diagnosis. A chest X-ray and CT scan of your lungs will show any enlarged air pockets associated with emphysema.
Other diagnostic tools to consider are blood tests to measure your levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide, pulse oximetry tests to monitor how much oxygen is in your blood, and spirometry, which measures your breathing by blowing into a tube connected to a machine that measures lung function – this technique determines your forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1).
Emphysema treatments aim to both manage symptoms and slow progression of the condition. Oral corticosteroids may help reduce inflammation in the lungs; home oxygen therapy – provided by machines equipped with tubes attached by healthcare providers to your nose/mouth (nasal cannula) or mask – is also often needed.
Other treatment options for severe cases may include lung volume reduction surgery in which parts of inflated lung tissue are surgically removed in order to improve functioning in healthy lung tissue that remains. Lung transplant is another possible treatment option.
A person suffering from severe emphysema often has poor sleep and is often disturbed by it. Consult with your doctor for more information about sleep test, sleep disorder and sleep apnea treatments (by using ResMed AirMini, AirSense 10 Autoset or AirCurve 10 VAuto CPAP machine) if you have any sleep disorder condition.
