maybe you first noticed your shortness of breath 

after climbing a flight of stairs 

or maybe after some light work a 

tiredness.

Maybe you've had a mild shortness of breath in the morning 

or before going to bed,

chronic cough and shortness of breath are 

symptoms of breathing problems.

Asthma,

bronchitis and emphysema are called 

chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases 

chronic because they are constant 

obstructive because they block your breathing effort 

pulmonary because the trouble is in the lungs 

disease because it's an abnormal 

disabling condition.

Emphysema is by far the most serious of these 

disorders.

Asthma and bronchitis are usually found with 

emphysema and frequently complicate this 

crippler.

To understand the problem,

let's look first the mechanics of normal breathing.

Normal breathing occurs when the muscles,

one of them called the diaphragm move so as 

to create a vacuum and pull fresh air 

in the diaphragm,

then relaxes and the lungs contract 

because of normal elasticity,

forcing stale air out.

Let's look at the parts of the breathing system and how they work.

Air entering the nose and mouth passes down 

through the windpipe or trachea at the 

point of entry into the lungs,

the trachea branches into the right main bronchus or 

tube and the left main bronchus 

before going further.

Let's take a closer look at the inside of these tubes,

like all tissue in the body.

The inside surface of the bronchi is composed of 

microscopic cells.

These bronchi cells have small hair like 

structures called cilia which have a whip 

like motion.

Normally this motion moves a coating or 

blanket of mucus to the top of the trachea 

where it is swallowed or coughed up.

The blanket of mucus catches dirt,

pollen and other irritants.

As the mucus is carried upward and away,

the irritants go with it.

All.

The bronchi throughout the lungs have this inner surface of 

cells,

with cilia moving the coating of mucus.

Now let's look more closely at what goes on deeper 

in the lungs.

The bronchi branch out into smaller and smaller tubes 

called bronchi als.

The broncos terminate in the alveoli or air 

sacs.

The air sacs are elastic spongy balloon 

shaped structures into which the air passes from the rocky 

olds.

The tissue walls of the alveoli are interlaced with 

thousands of tiny blood vessels.

These walls are so thin that the oxygen in the 

air passes through into the bloodstream.

At the same time carbon dioxide,

the waste gas in the blood passes from the blood 

into the air sacs and is exhaled.

This exchange occurs throughout most of the lungs and is 

the means by which the blood dumps some of its waste 

and acquires the oxygen necessary for the body's health.

This is the normal breathing process.

Now,

let's see what goes wrong in the breathing system of the victim of 

emphysema.

This disease strikes deep in the lungs and the walls 

of the air sacs.

For various reasons,

these walls begin to break down and the air spaces in the 

sacks enlarge and distort.

This results in larger air spaces,

but with less available wall area for the exchange of 

oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Thus the breathing system and the heart must work 

harder for enough oxygen to meet the body's needs.

You know this as a shortness of breath.

The story doesn't end there.

Unfortunately.

Part of the damage to the air sacs is the loss of their 

marvelous elasticity.

They are no longer springy and able to push air 

out for exploration.

Many of the air sacs trapped air 

this prevents fresh oxygen rich air from getting in 

to replace the steel air.

The blood and the blood vessels surrounding the air sacs continues to 

come in contact with stale air and thus fails 

to get the necessary oxygen.

It's because of the damaged air sacs that you have 

difficulty exhaling enough difficulty 

emptying belongs to make room for fresh air 

because emphysema comes on slowly.

The damage to the breathing system is gradual.

More and more air sacs are damaged.

In addition,

there are changes in the air passages.

The moist lining of the passengers thickens and 

produces excess mucus partially blocking the 

passengers,

You struggle to empty your lungs to make room for enough fresh 

air excess mucus accumulates 

instead of moving up and out 

the cilia or whip like hair structures are 

clogged and many of them fail.

The mucus no longer moves and your cough fails to bring up 

material.

The excessive cough effort causes still more 

damage and deterioration.

The lack of oxygen can become so severe that 

the victim develops cyanosis,

a bluish color of the lips and a general 

skin pallor.

As long damage increases the heart must work 

harder to pump enough blood to supply.

The body's needs.

The heart enlarges under the string and may 

eventually give out.

This type of heart failure is often an end result 

of emphysema.

Emphysema victims often have what positions call a 

barrel chest,

the result of enlargement of the lungs,

the lungs enlarged over a period of time.

You may also have bronchitis and inflammation of the 

bronchial tubes and a frequent companion of 

emphysema.

While bronchitis can be treated successfully,

emphysema is another story.

Probably the grimmest part of the emphysema story is this 

emphysema is an irreversible disease.

This means that the damage done 

cannot be undone.

The disease can be arrested.

That is stopped from getting much worse by treating the 

bronchitis.

Once you have emphysema,

you are going to have to accept it and learn to live 

with it.

If you ignore it,

you could be like this fellow,

he is completely dependent on this breathing 

device,

he is permanently disabled.

His whole life now is devoted to simply getting 

enough air to stay alive.

If you have even the beginnings of emphysema,

you must stop smoking once 

and for all,

No matter how difficult this is the first and 

most important step in,

learning to live with this disability.

Another important step is to change your activities 

so that no strain is placed on your breathing system,

avoid people with colds and during the flu 

season,

avoid public gatherings and crowds for 

the emphysema victim.

A simple cold can be a serious 

illness,

avoid all irritants to the breathing system,

smoke dust pollen,

even cooking odors when it 

isn't possible to avoid them,

protect yourself with a handkerchief over your nose and 

mouth.

There are other aspects to living with emphysema.

Your physician will advise you.

You must face your problem,

accept it and follow his advice with great 

care.

This may not be a happy picture,

but neither is it a hopeless one.

There are over 14 million persons in the United 

States with Bronchial Asthma,

chronic bronchitis or emphysema.

The United States Public Health Service tells us that emphysema 

is the fastest growing crippler disease in the United 

States today.

Most breathing problems strike people between the ages of 

40 and 60 years and the 

victim is usually a man.

Women develop breathing problems also,

but not as often as men,

regardless of age or sex,

anyone who smokes can expect more serious 

breathing trouble than non smokers.

You may be one of the 17,000 new victims 

of emphysema this year,

but by following your physician's advice,

living wisely and within the proper limits 

your life can be comfortable,

productive and happy