Wheezing
When a person exhales and forces the air inside through obstructed or narrow air passages in their lungs due to emphysema, there is a musical or whistling sound known as wheezing. Wheezing can be a symptom of several other lung disorders or chest infections but it is quite distinctive in the case of emphysema. In people having emphysema, wheezing commonly occurs due to obstruction of air passages by excess mucus. The buildup of mucus in combination with the tightening of airways muscles causes further narrowing of the airways. Wheezing might also be a symptom of pneumonia or asthma. Some people with emphysema might also have a condition in which there is an overlapping of both asthma and emphysema symptoms, which is medically known as asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS). The studies report that almost 15 to 45 percent of the people with a diagnosis of both emphysema and asthma have the condition of ACOS.