Emphysema : Definition, Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Types, Stages, Life Expectancy, Pathophysiology, Medications, Complications and Treatment

Symptoms Of Emphysema

Symptoms Of Emphysema
Symptoms Of Emphysema

If a person is suffering from emphysema then the muscles in their lungs helping in breathing work harder and tend to tire out more easily or sooner. Feeling short of breath after doing slightest activity is an indication of emphysema. With the progression of disease, a person might feel out of breath even he is sitting or standing still. The symptoms of emphysema tend to show up slowly. A person who smoke and have the condition of emphysema typically show symptoms between ages 45 and 60. As a person gets older, the lungs gradually lose their optimum function without doing cigarette smoking. The people having emphysema when carry on smoking, they lose their lung function even faster. [2]

Each of the type of emphysema has characteristic symptoms and these symptoms primarily associate with emphysema including wheezing and shortness of breath. At the earlier stages, the shortness of breath or dyspnea develops with doing physical activity. As the time passes and the disease advances, the episodes of dyspnea start to develop more frequently eventually. The episodes of emphysema symptoms start occurring even at rest making it quite difficult to do daily activities thus altering the lifestyle.

With the progression of disease, you might experience some additional symptoms along with the commonly occurring ones. A lot of these commonly occurring symptoms can vary in intensity and can also be episodic in nature. A person who tries to quit smoking, they are able to slow down the lung dysfunction process and have a better outlook regarding the progression of the disease. Following is the description of some symptoms of emphysema: