It looks light, damaged by emphysema, looks like a sponge with large pores, which has lost elasticity, and, therefore, its functions. Such tissue is no longer able to absorb oxygen.
After all, we also know from biology: when you inhale, the lungs expand, and when you exhale, they contract, and elastic alveolar sacs, which are the smallest pulmonary cells, are involved in this process. But what happens to the alveoli in emphysema?
What is emphysema?
The disease is related to another, more general diagnosis of COPD - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Emphysema develops very often against the backdrop of COPD. In people suffering from an ailment, the walls of the alveoli, small bubbles, where gas exchange occurs, first collapse. Then, large voids form in the lungs in place of the cells. And then the bronchi are destroyed, if the process is aggravated by suppuration due to infection.
The chest of the patient increases. Carbon dioxide is concentrated in the lungs, which cannot find a way out due to narrowing of the lumen in the bronchi. Alveolar sacs are slowly stretched, lose elasticity. There are fewer healthy cells, so a person progresses to respiratory failure. And the greater the failure, the higher the risk of rupture of a mild and fatal outcome.
The causes, signs, symptoms of emphysema are known to heavy smokers firsthand. Most tested them for themselves. After all, smoking is recognized as the most common cause of emphysema. This negative habit, sooner or later, necessarily leads to certain diseases of the lung tissue.
Symptoms of Emphysema
The two symptoms that are most disturbing distinguish this disease from other pulmonary problems. This is a characteristic cough and the presence of shortness of breath, which in the supine position does not increase, in contrast to the same symptom in heart problems.
Shortness of breath over time becomes stronger, then cyanosis appears on the face due to a lack of oxygen in the body. What other symptoms of pulmonary emphysema are known?
- reduced weight;
- headache in the morning due to breathing problems at night;
- decreased appetite
- frequent pulmonary infections;
- developing tachycardia;
- constant fatigue and anxiety;
- wheezing during breathing;
- convexity of supraclavicular spaces and intercostal spaces.
The cough of a sick person is peculiar. It is heavy, prolonged, since the lungs are weak, a person cannot let out air with force. Heart rate is very different from normal. The muscle tries to compensate for the lack of oxygen in the body and works faster.
With the development of respiratory failure, a person becomes completely weak and disabled. Even in a state of complete rest it is difficult to inhale.
What are the other symptoms of pulmonary emphysema in adults? It becomes hard for a person to speak. His speech is intermittent, from time to time he has to sigh loudly. It can be seen that the veins on the neck are enlarged. An obvious venous pattern is also visible on the face. The neck of such a person seems shorter, and the chest is very large. It swells and becomes barrel-shaped.
Emphysema cyanosis
Another major symptom of emphysema is cyanosis, which is a bluish body. Unlike blueness with other problems, the body does not feel cold, hands do not go numb. This does not come from the fact that blood circulates poorly, but because of oxygen deficiency in the plasma.
Forms of Emphysema
What forms are there, besides acute and chronic? Separately, consider the senile form, which is present in many elderly people as a symptom of aging; and congenital emphysema in newborns.
According to the anatomical features, the disease is also divided into 6 of the following forms:
- Paraseptal is a very severe form affecting the alveolar septum. In this case, the structure of the entire pulmonary system is seriously impaired.
- The periacinar form occurs after complications of tuberculosis.
- Bullous emphysema or vesicular - the disease mainly catches up with men in retirement age.
- Pericubic. It arises as a reaction to scarring of the lung tissue.
- Inertial (subcutaneous) form - air bubbles penetrate already under the skin.
- Centrilobular. Affects the acinus. With this form, the acinus tissue is significantly degenerated.
There is also a division into primary and secondary emphysema. Secondary emphysema is a consequence of chronic lung problems of various origins.
Bullous form. What is the danger?
One of the forms is bullous pulmonary emphysema. Her symptoms are as follows:
- severe chest pain;
- grayish skin color;
- expiratory dyspnea;
- protrude intercostal space and collarbone.
It is characterized by the presence of light bullas - huge cavities filled with air. Intact tissues in this disease are few. Enlarged alveolar sacs squeeze still living tissue.
This form develops after severe viral infections, especially if they are exacerbated by suppuration. These are abscesses, tuberculosis, and other serious problems. And 90% of smokers with experience of more than 20 years also suffer from this form.
Paraseptal form and centrilobular. Pneumothorax
Paraseptal emphysema begins with physiological changes in the tissues next to a dense septum from special connective tissue, or next to the pleura of the lung. What happens with paraseptal emphysema of the upper lobes? Symptoms are usually: the appearance of bulls and sudden pneumothorax.
Centrilobular emphysema is characterized by the presence of inflammation in the bronchi and alveoli. Symptoms include, among others, impaired liver function, sudden pneumothorax, heart failure. Another significant sign of pathology is the accumulation of fluid, since inflammation produces a lot of mucus.
Pneumothorax is the ingress of air due to the destruction of lung tissue into the pleural cavity, and there should not be air in the pleura. The diaphragm lowers at this time. And the lungs are very compressed and such a patient simply suffocates. He needs urgent operational first aid.
Life forecast
Forecasting a specific patient is very difficult. Firstly, the degradation of lung tissue is already an irreversible process, and it will gradually progress. Secondly, the disease almost always affects the heart muscle.
However, the operation performed on time and the use of bronchodilator drugs significantly prolongs life. Knowing the symptoms of pulmonary emphysema , it is easier to detect the disease in oneself. It is best to consult a doctor immediately after you notice shortness of breath after a jog or workout. While there is still no significant damage in the lung, you can help a person, but you should not give hope for recovery.
Emphysema is completely incurable. When diagnosing an average degree of damage to both lungs, about 70% of patients live another 4-6 years. And, accordingly, in severe form, fewer people suffering from the disease survive to an average term of 4 years.
Therefore, worldwide attention is paid to informing. Let us consider in more detail the emphysema of the lungs. Symptoms, causes, treatment - all this is important for everyone to know.
What causes emphysema?
Changes in the structure of the alveoli occur as a result of stretching of the smooth muscles of the lung and a violation of the "supply" of blood. The area where gas exchange occurs gradually decreases. The lack of oxygen in the blood begins. This is manifested by the appearance of severe shortness of breath after exercise.
In the alveoli at this time, the exhaust gas accumulates - carbon dioxide; and vital oxygen has nowhere to go. Due to gas exchange disorders, intrapulmonary pressure increases. The load on the heart also increases. More precisely, on the right side of it. There is such a major symptom of emphysema as the pulmonary heart.
Why is the elasticity of some structures of the lung disturbed? Several factors contribute to this:
- living in environmentally disadvantaged areas;
- hormonal imbalance;
- congenital defects of the lungs;
- physiological age-related changes (many people after 55-60 years suffer from emphysema);
- chronic bronchitis, pleurisy, severe pneumonia;
- alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.
Due to the lack of the above element (alpha-1 antitrypsin), some enzymes destroy lung tissue instead of penetrating bacteria.
Working in dusty rooms or inhaling chemicals also stimulates the development of the disease. A large role is played by smoking. It was previously believed that emphysema can develop mechanical damage in musicians playing wind instruments and working glassblowers. But experiments have shown: this theory is untenable.
Emphysema in children and adults
Symptoms of lung emphysema in adults have been called - shortness of breath, fatigue due to the fact that the pectoral muscles are constantly tense. It is difficult for them to maintain breathing. In children, lobar emphysema (congenital) is sometimes diagnosed. The cause of such deviations are congenital problems with the cartilage elements of the bronchi or weakness of the muscles of the lungs.
What are the symptoms of emphysema in newborns? A child with a decompensated form of the disease often coughs, he has obvious respiratory asymmetry and shortness of breath. There is also a compensated form, then these symptoms are not so clearly manifested.
A newborn can be helped only by performing an operation to remove abnormally developed tissues.
Diagnostics. Hospitalization
Patients undergo several diagnostic steps. First, the doctor asks whether relatives had such a disease, whether the patient smokes, and how often. This survey is called history taking - the information needed to establish a diagnosis. Percussion tapping can detect reduced lung mobility and characteristic muffled breathing with elongated exhalation and short breath.
Although the symptoms of pulmonary emphysema speak for themselves, and no therapist confuses the expiratory dyspnea associated with the disease, additional research is needed.
Then it is necessary to determine whether the patient has such a symptom as a "pulmonary heart", and give direction to x-rays and MRI diagnostics. An MRI scan confirms the “sentence” given by the X-ray examination and provides information on how much the lung tissue has changed. Then the doctor will decide whether an operation to remove part of the lung is necessary or not.
Do lung scintigraphy. This is a method in which radioactive isotopes are introduced into a diseased organ. Using isotopes, the state of the vessels in the lungs is clearly visible, you can observe how effective the treatment has already been. It is also important to find out the amount of air that a person can inhale and exhale. To do this, there is such a device as a spirometer. However, it can not be used by those who have hypertension, tuberculosis, or have recently had lung surgery.
So, we examined the diagnosis, symptoms of emphysema. Where to go with this diagnosis?
A person is immediately hospitalized if shortness of breath is disturbing even when lying down, when hemoptysis begins, or in addition to emphysema, there is still some kind of viral lung disease. If not, he receives a disability group and is treated at home.
Emphysema. Symptoms and treatment in adults
What is prescribed for emphysema? Corticosteroids, such as Prednisone, are commonly used. But in medical circles, this drug is controversial, since it does not help everyone. Prescribe anticholinergics, and others prescribed after a long diagnostic study.
Oxygen therapy is also prescribed. Together with this therapy, the patient should perform breathing exercises daily. And, of course, one should completely abandon both passive and active smoking.
In those neglected cases when all of the above methods do not help, they perform an operation and remove those parts of the lung that cannot be cured after tissue degeneration.
In America, according to statistics, about 1.5% of the population dies from this lung disease, while in Europe this figure is slightly higher. Medications, such as Eufillin, help alleviate the condition of the patient, but not for long.
In case of severe shortness of breath and severe blueness of the body, an oxygen tent is recommended for patients. It can be from 20 minutes to 2 hours. A new word in medicine is aeroionotherapy, which also effectively improves breathing. The procedure is carried out in a course of up to 20 days. When edema is still very disturbing, they prescribe some kind of diuretic, for example, Novurit.
Patients with moderate and severe emphysema should constantly breathe pure oxygen, supplied by a special generator through a tube. This is a difficult procedure that requires cash costs. Therefore, it is better to know about the prevention of the disease.
Prevention
The main prevention for emphysema is to quit smoking. Due to inhaled cigarette smoke, the bronchi are constantly swollen, their lumen is narrowed. As a result, the air from the alveoli leaves more difficult. This is the harm of cigarettes. Another negative side of smoking - smoke also destroys cilia in the bronchi, which help to bring out mucus and bacteria. When the cilia are absent, permanent bronchitis begins with complications.
Symptoms of emphysema in adults, we examined. There are many of them, and each will have an individual picture of the disease, its own distinctive signs, depending on the stage of the form.
The patient should find out the reason. Often the cause of the destruction of the lung tissue are adverse and even harmful working conditions. A person must leave the place of work, undergo diagnostics and, most likely, he will be assigned a disability group.
If a person has already had cases of emphysema, the risks increase. You often need to travel to the mountains and breathe clean, dust free air, do your best exercises.