The COPD Process

Many people know that emphysema is one of the conditions that falls into the category COPD, but for most of us, the actual workings of this condition are unclear. We know that it is related to smoking and we know that it causes breathing difficulty, but the physical changes that happen remain a mystery.

According to Dr. C. Everett Koop, Former Surgeon General of the United States, emphysema impairs the ability of the lungs to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide. This exchange of gases takes place in small sacks called alveoli, which are located at the ends of the smallest airways. Emphysema eventually destroys the walls of these sacks and therefore affects the airways as well. With the sacks destroyed, oxygen and carbon dioxide can not be exchanged in the body, and the individual shows difficulty breathing.

As the destruction of these small passageways continues, the lungs begin to lose their elasticity, and become stretched and enlarged. This enlargement can account for the "barrel chested" appearance of many people with COPD. This enlargement causes obstruction, and thus the name Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, COPD.

In some cases the breathing difficulty affects the ability to bring oxygen into the body. Since they have difficulty inhaling, the lack of oxygen being exchanged in the lungs is reduced and therefore the person begins to show signs of oxygen deprivation. The common treatment for this is to administer oxygen to the individual on an almost constant basis.

Others not only have the problems with inhalation, but they are impaired in their ability to exhale as well. This causes a build up of the waste gas, carbon dioxide. This gas causes tissue death in the lungs by replacing the oxygen and literally starving the lungs of oxygen. Carbon dioxide is toxic and can cause severe complications if it is not expelled from the body. If a build up continues and is untreated, it can literally cause a person to suffocate, even though they are breathing in and out without apparent difficulty.

Inhaled medications such as bronchodilators, which are also used for asthma, can help relieve the breathing difficulty for many emphysema patients, but there is no cure for this condition. At best, patients can be kept relatively stable.

Hopefully this information will help those with emphysema to understand better the process going on inside their bodies that cause them to breath with increasing difficulty. Only through early detection of this condition and early treatment can the effects of emphysema and other COPD conditions be controlled.

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