Home > Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine > Emphysema

Definition

Emphysema is a progressive, incurable chronic lung condition. The air sacs (alveoli) are destroyed and oxygen uptake is restricted due to the loss of elasticity of lung tissue.

Description

As of 1998 there were an estimated two million people suffering from emphysema in America. Between three and five percent were attributed to genetic factors, the remainder being a result of environmental pollution, with smoking ranking far and away as the main cause.

Normally functioning lungs are elastic, and efficiently expand and recoil as air passes freely through their passageways (bronchus) to the alveoli, where oxygen is moved into the blood and carbon dioxide is filtered out. When a person inhales cigarette smoke or airborne pollutants, his or her immune system responds by releasing substances that are meant to defend the...