Emphysema is a chronic respiratory disease that affects millions of people worldwide. The fourth-leading cause of death in the United States, COPD affects about 16 million Americans and kills about 120,000 people per year (Wisniewski, 2003). Emphysema is one of the two types of common lung diseases known collectively as COPD, which is known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Of the two types of COPD, emphysema is the most severe form. Many etiological factors can contribute to this disease such as age and genetics. Other factors can contribute to emphysema as well. Emphysema is by far the most common chronic lung condition and is the major cause of pulmonary disability (Luckmann, J. & Sorensen, K., 1980). Emphysema is a type of COPD …show more content…
Patients with emphysema often deny that they have the disease until the disease is full-blown. At the beginning, they treat themselves with home remedies or over-the-counter medications. They look for medical treatment when their disease has become further advanced. The main symptom associated with this disease is shortness of breath. This is caused by the airways collapsing when the patient exhales. They experience a lot of wheezing and their breath sounds are very faint. Their breaths are also shallow and fast and they may breathe up to 30 times a minute. The patient may also have fingertips that are described as “clubbing” and their face may either be pale or reddish. At the early stage of emphysema, the person experiences difficulty breathing with physical activity, but as the disease progresses, they experience shortness of breath even at rest. For the person with emphysema, the normally involuntary reflex of expiration becomes an active muscular effort. Exhaling is difficult and requires more time than normal. Other symptoms include a persistent, dry cough with small amounts of mucus due to the inability to cough it up. Physically, the shape of a person’s chest becomes barrel shaped due to the air trapping. Their chest and back appears rounded and the diameter of their chest is enlarged. The chest becomes rigid and fixed and the lungs are always