Emphysema: What is it and how to treat it?
If you ask any doctordiploma: "Emphysema - what is it?" - he will explain to you that in medicine this term denotes a range of nonspecific pulmonary diseases. The patient with this diagnosis expanded the air spaces of the pulmonary bronchioles and altered the alveolar walls.
Possible reasons
In order to be fully armed, it is not enough to know thatis emphysema. What is it, we already found out. Now let's see why it appears. To date, all the reasons that provoke the development of emphysema, it is common to divide into two categories. The first includes pathological microcirculation, the negative impact of harmful substances in the air, as well as a congenital deficit of α-antitrypsin. One thing unites them: all these factors somehow violate the strength of the lungs and reduce their elasticity. It is this that leads to the fact that a person develops a primary diffuse emphysema. What it is? The respiratory department of the lung is completely restructured. Bronchial resistance and, consequently, pressure in the alveoli increase during each exhalation. However, it should be noted that the bronchial patency can still be intact. If no inflammatory changes are observed, bronchioles and bronchioles are not obstructed. As the second possible cause of emphysema, doctors call chronic obstructive bronchitis. This disease creates ideal conditions for a person to develop secondary (otherwise - alveolar) emphysema.
Description
In this case, patients have intrathoracic pressureduring exhalation sharply decreases. Stretching of the bronchial lumen leads to the fact that bronchial obstruction is aggravated. Alveoli stretch too much due to the fact that in them the inspired air is retained. All this leads to the fact that the interalveolar septa gradually deteriorate. If the patient is referred to an X-ray, emphysema will be visible by the characteristic swelling of the respiratory alveoli.
Diagnostics
On what grounds can you identifyemphysema? Here is their short list: the alveoli of the patient are thickened, their mouths are widened; smooth muscle bundles hypertrophied, elastic fibers straightened; the walls of the respiratory bronchioles are much thinner than they should be; the number of capillaries is much lower than the norm.
Symptomatology
Emphysema of the lungs is quite bright. Most patients complain of severe shortness of breath - first it occurs with physical exercises, but gradually starts to pester a person constantly, even while walking. Secondary emphysema is characterized by a violation of the gas composition of the blood. Externally, this affects the condition of the chest: in form it resembles a barrel, the areas above the collarbones strongly protrude.
Forecast
So, now you know the answer to the question: "Emphysema - what is it?" It is necessary to note that it is impossible to cure the disease: modern medicine does not know the art of restoring the destroyed alveoli. The treatment is mainly aimed at removing unpleasant symptoms and maintaining a normal level of oxygenation. For this, bronchodilators are prescribed and regular oxygen therapy is performed.