{"id":3467,"date":"2019-01-30T08:31:01","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T08:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/?p=3467"},"modified":"2021-05-25T13:29:26","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T13:29:26","slug":"11-uneasy-emphysema-symptoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/11-uneasy-emphysema-symptoms\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Uneasy Emphysema Symptoms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Almost 4-million Americans received a diagnosis of emphysema in 2018, that\u2019s nearly 2-percent of the population. Statistics show that 2.3 people of every 100,000 develop this chronic condition.
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Emphysema is a form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, (COPD,) and it typically affects cigarette smokers. Individuals who smoke more than 30-cigarettes per day are at a 20-times higher risk of developing the condition when compared to non-smokers. While quitting smoking may decrease the spread of the disease, it\u2019s vital to note that the chronic condition has no cure.
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Smoking is the most prevalent cause of the disease, but emphysema also affects around 7-percent of the non-smoking population as well. Individuals with emphysema experience issues with the alveoli, the tiny air sacs found at the end of your bronchial tubes. The alveoli become enlarged and lose elasticity, causing problems with the gaseous exchange within the lungs as they draw in air and expel CO2 through exhalation.
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Here are eight uneasy symptoms of the condition. If you notice any of them, arrange an appointment with your physician for a diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Persistent Coughing
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People suffering from emphysema <\/a>experience a persistent cough that won\u2019t go away, even with the use of cough medicine. The alveoli in the lungs fill with fluid, similar to a bout of bronchitis. This fluid makes it challenging for the lungs to process inhaled air, and causes irritation and inflammation in the air sacs.
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This irritation and fluid in the lungs resulting in a cough that sounds deep and phlegmy. Patients suffering from the condition also notice that they spit up large amounts of thick, dark-green or brown mucus after coughing and after eating meals. Cigarette smoke contains thousands of harmful chemicals and leaves your lungs dirty from the smoke.
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The lungs attempt to clear this mucus, and the result is a cough filled with sticky phlegm. Coughing symptoms can be so severe that they wake people affected with the condition while they sleep. Since emphysema is a chronic condition, symptoms tend to increase over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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2. Shortness of Breath
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Individuals who are suffering from emphysema, experience shortness of breath alongside their chronic coughing symptoms. COPD damages the lungs, enlarging the alveoli<\/a> in an attempt to draw in more air. Emphysema affects the air sacs and their ability to exchange CO2 for oxygen. As a result, patients with the condition find that they experience shortness of breath from completing even minor tasks, such as walking.
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Without enough oxygen circulating in the body due to COPD, the muscular system becomes tired quickly, leading to symptoms of light-headedness that accompany shortness of breath. Many patients have to sit down to recover their breathing, and some patients in the advanced stages of the disease require administration of oxygen to relieve the symptoms and return to normal breathing.
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Shortness of breath feels like you have a gorilla sitting on your chest when you\u2019re trying to catch your breath, and without supplemental oxygen treatment, you may end up experiencing a stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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3. Frequent Lung Infection
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Individuals with emphysema are at higher risk of contracting lung infections, such as bronchitis<\/a>. The condition affects the health of the lungs, filling the alveoli with fluid and pus that requires constant coughing to clear mucus. When fluid pools in the lungs, it becomes a magnet for viruses, fungi, and bacteria that treat the air sacs as breeding grounds to replicate.
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In their weakened state, the lungs are less resilient to incoming infections, and as a result, the disease spreads quickly throughout the airways. People suffering from emphysema also run the risk of catching pneumonia, a dangerous lung infection that can cause death in individuals with emphysema.
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Pneumonia typically affects one side of the lungs only. However, individuals with emphysema struggle to contain the bacteria, Streptococcus pneumonia, which spreads to both lungs, increasing the possibility of severe complications with the disease. Patients who experience lung infections require immediate treatment with antibiotics to prevent the spread of the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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4. Fatigue, Reduced Appetite, and Weight Loss
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Weight loss i<\/a>s a symptom of emphysema in its final stages. As the disease progresses, the lungs expand in size, placing pressure on the stomach and surrounding organs. Patients may find that eating a meal causes discomfort, as the stomach struggles to deal with the volume of food and the pressure placed on the stomach by the enlarged lungs.
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Experiencing these symptoms can put patients off their food, and they begin to eat less. As a result of less incoming calories, you start to shed mass. In the absence of adequate nutrition, the body will metabolize healthy muscle cells as a source of protein to keep metabolism functioning, leaving fat stores behind as a store of biological fuel.
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Some foods may exacerbate the feeling of fullness, and reduce appetite. Avoid foods high in fiber, as well as salty and spicy meals. Reduce the number of carbonated beverages and coffee you consume; the caffeine can increase your symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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5. Blue Lips and Headaches
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Most patients with COPD and emphysema experience a lack of available oxygen in the bloodstream<\/a>. As the lungs expand and the disease progresses, the alveoli become less efficient at the gaseous exchange of oxygen and CO2.
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A lack of circulating oxygen has a detrimental effect on your physical and mental health. Patients suffering from emphysema may notice that their lips turn blue during the day. They may also find they wake up with a headache first thing in the morning. These symptoms occur due to the lack of oxygen available, and the extremities of the body don\u2019t receive enough oxygen. As a result, the lips turn blue and morning headaches begin to surface.
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Patients in this stage of the disease often feel like they may pass out after strenuous activity, such as walking up a flight of stairs. The individual requires treatment with exogenous oxygen to flood their body with adequate levels of oxygen and relieve the symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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6. Issues Sleeping
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Individuals diagnosed with emphysema may also find they have trouble sleeping. When we sleep, our body rids the neural pathways of toxins <\/a>accumulated during the day. If we don\u2019t receive enough sleep, it leads to diminished levels of cognitive function, that\u2019s why we wake up feeling tired if we didn\u2019t get enough sleep the previous night.
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Most patients diagnosed with emphysema have trouble sleeping at night. The condition doesn\u2019t halt its progress while you sleep, and the lungs continue to accumulate mucus. As a result, the lungs eventually reach a threshold where the respiratory system tries to clear the excess phlegm. Patients make wake up to a violent coughing fit that clears the airways.
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Patients in the advanced stages of the disease find it challenging to get more than an hour or two of uninterrupted sleep before their cough wakes them up at night. Some individuals in the early stages of the disease may experience benefits from using a C-PAP machine to improve the quality of their sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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7. Wheezing and Breathing Difficulties
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As discussed, emphysema affects the lungs and a patient\u2019s ability to breathe correctly. The accumulation of fluid in the alveoli leads to a wheezing sound when breathing that progresses as the disease advances. Some patients experience other breathing issues and sounds, such as a crackling noise as the air passes through the alveoli, disrupting the fluid in the sacs.
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Breathing difficulties are common in patients with emphysema. Some patients experience a tightness <\/a>in the lungs, along with sharp pain that spreads across the chest and into the arms. This symptom is a sign that your lungs are struggling to receive oxygen.
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The best way to reduce breathing symptoms is to stop smoking. Cessation prevents smoke from entering your lungs on a regular basis where it deposits tar and other harmful elements into your lungs and alveoli. If you have emphysema and find that you can\u2019t stop smoking, speak to your doctor for advice on how to quit successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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8. Depression and Anxiety
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Living with the knowledge that your lungs <\/a>are in the midst of dealing with a chronic disease is a tough diagnosis to handle for anyone. Being that emphysema has no cure, and the challenges involved with stopping smoking, the chances are that the affected individuals will perish due to their lifestyle habits.
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This sense of impending doom can affect the mental health of patients, throwing them into a depression. Understanding that your actions are the result of the disease and you are the only person responsible for your condition exacerbates feelings of anxiety and dread.
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As a result, it\u2019s common for patients who don\u2019t manage to quit smoking to develop malaise, a form of depression where the body knows somethings wrong with its normal function. Stopping smoking can sometimes lift the feeling of unease as the subconscious mind realizes that it has a chance at recovery. Patients that continue to smoke may receive some relief from depression and anxiety through the use of prescribed medications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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9. Risk of: Collapsed Lung<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Living with emphysema can prove a daunting experience from day to day, not just because of the more frequently experienced symptoms that sufferers live with, but also because of the looming threat of life-threatening complications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These complications are like a specter in the life of a sufferer, who goes about their daily business not knowing whether each day will be the day that a bump in the road comes along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such complication that can occur is the collapse, or partial collapse, of one or both of the lungs. A pneumothorax <\/a>can be life-threatening in emphysema sufferers, as their lung function is already severely compromised. Although this complication is fairly uncommon, even in the world of lung patients, emphysema sufferers are at a significantly higher risk of this happening than your average person on the street. When a pneumothorax does develop, the implications are very serious, and unfortunately, fatalities do occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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10. Risk of: Heart Problems<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The potential complications of emphysema are not limited to a person\u2019s lungs. The heart too can be compromised and threatened by issues stemming from emphysema. The pressure in the arteries <\/a>that connect the heart and lungs can be increased significantly by emphysema, which can cause a condition called cor pulmonale to develop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effect on the heart is huge, and this condition can cause a vital section to firstly expand and subsequently weaken. The effects of smoking on the heart have long been known, but a survey of patients at a New York State Hospital found that over half thought that the effects were limited to falling under the umbrella name of \u2018heart disease\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few actually knew exactly what happened to the heart. Recent anti-smoking campaigns have tried to highlight several specific impacts that smoking can have on the heart and other organs, as specific details of how certain illnesses may pan out are more impactful than generalizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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11. Risk of: Large holes in the lungs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another example of potential damage to the lungs comes in the form of bullae<\/a>. These large, empty spaces can form within the lungs of people with emphysema. Surprisingly, these vacuums can grow to be as large as half the size of the lung, even evading detection for long periods too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of the fact that these holes reduce the space available for the lung to expand, they also significantly increase a person\u2019s likelihood of developing a pneumothorax. The effects on the lungs tend to occur in a spiral of ever-increasing seriousness, almost like a domino effect. For this reason, significant changes to the health of a patient\u2019s lungs can be missed, as lung damage is a given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regular screenings, tests and a whole host of imaging processes must be undertaken regularly to monitor for any worrying signs that could lead to one of the risk factors mentioned here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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12.  Irritableness and Low Mood<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The effects of being seriously ill can have huge implications on a person\u2019s mental health, as discussed previously regarding anxiety <\/a>and depression, but these effects can manifest themselves in a way that is just as damaging, even without a diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Low mood, sadness and an increased sense of irritability may seem like inevitable factors associated with the diagnosis of a life-changing illness; however, acceptance is an altogether different thing than understanding. In the early stages, a patient\u2019s family is likely to give the sufferer a bit of leeway, a wide berth at times even, as they allow that person to adjust to their new state of being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a while though, even though they are fully aware of the daily struggles of that person, families and friends may become fatigued themselves at having to endure the constant low mood and irritability of someone they know and love. It is a hard truth to face, that illness and death affect so many more people indirectly, on top of the person who is directly impacted upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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13. Decreased Libido<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Where relationships are concerned, as with the last example, intimacy and sexual activity with a partner is also likely to be heavily affected by emphysema. Conversations with couples going through the diagnosis and beyond have shed light on the fact that many of them have found that a strain <\/a>is put on their relationship in the hardest and most unseen ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These breakdowns in chemistry are not usually due to the \u2018well\u2019 partner becoming less attracted to the emphysema partner, much to the contrary in fact. These break downs in closeness are most often due to the person diagnosed with emphysema becoming disillusioned with themselves, feeling unattractive and even unworthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The underlying cause of these problems is undoubtedly mental health and wellbeing, however a decreased sex drive is just one of the ways that a change in someone\u2019s mental wellbeing can manifest, It isn\u2019t spoken about a lot because of the sensitive and private nature of the subject, however it being an indicator or a barometer as to the health of a relationship is undeniable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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14. Memory Loss<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A worrying development of the latter stages of emphysema is the impact it can have upon a person\u2019s short term memory. Brain function is heavily dependent on the body receiving a regular, healthy supply of oxygen<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a person suffers from emphysema, the body is starved of any semblance of a regular supply of oxygen, which inevitably means that brain function is affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most distressing implications of this is when a patient experiences memory loss and confusion. For a patient, not knowing where you are temporarily, or forgetting to take your medications, can negatively impact the present and the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a patient\u2019s family and friends, this is also distressing and even mirrors the early stages of dementia, in some ways. When a person becomes forgetful and disoriented, they tend to panic and are more prone to acting rashly or making ill-judged decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For an already frail and unwell person, this can lead to catastrophic events, and so any person experiencing any form of memory loss is in dire need of a close and careful care plan, to ensure they don\u2019t put themselves at risk for as long as the bout of amnesia persists.
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