What is the lung emphysema? How does the disease occur and what are his reasons? I read the answers to these questions in the article.
Content
What is emphysema
Lung emphysema is a disease in which the alveoli, from which lung fabric consists, are polished and lose the ability to adequately reduce, as a result of which the flow of oxygen into the blood and removal of carbon dioxide from it is disturbed. This leads to respiratory failure.
Most often, the lungs are amazed completely (diffuse emphysema). Sometimes bloated parts of the lungs are combined with normal lung cloth. Such areas are called Bully, and Emphyms Bullos.
Causes of emphysema
The main causes of the disease are chronic bronchitis (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and bronchial asthma. In essence, the formation of lung emphysema is the immediate result of chronic bronchitis.
In the development of bullous emphysema, hereditary factors play an important role, as well as suffered diseases of the lungs (for example, tuberculosis).
Smoking, air pollution by various dust particles also contribute to the development of the disease.
How the disease occurs
Alveolas are microscopic penetrated vessels «Paches», which end the bronchi, and in which gas exchanges between blood and inhaled air occurs. Normally, they swell when inhaling, filling with air, and reduced when exhaling.
In emphysema, this process is broken. As a result of the difficulty of exhalation during asthma or chronic bronchitis, the air pressure in the Alveoli increases, and they are redistributed and compacted. Lung fabric loses the ability to stretch dynamically and falling in accordance with breathing, which leads to an increase in the amount of air in the lungs. Such excess air does not participate in breathing, which leads to the inferior work of the lungs.
The main complaint of patients with emphysens - shortness of breath, significantly increasing during exercise. If the cause of the disease is heredity, then shortness of breath appears at a young age.
Without treatment, emphysema progresses, which leads to a violation of the operation of respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Develops respiratory and heart failure.
Bullous emphysema can leak imperceptibly, manifesting it already by complication - the development of pneumothorax (bullion breaks and air injection into the pleural cavity). This requires urgent surgical treatment.
