Unraveling the mystery of the formation of emphysema, a common disease among hundreds of millions of people, the root cause is not in the lungs, but here
Emphysema is an important chronic disease. Its final result is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and coronary heart disease. It is called the four major chronic diseases that require long-term medication. The latest epidemiological survey shows that nearly 100 million people in the country have long-term Afflicted by the disease and unable to live a normal life, how does emphysema form and why is it more difficult for patients to exhale than inhale during breathing? Let me briefly introduce it today.
Emphysema is a relatively obvious feature of chronic bronchitis in the middle stage. At this stage, patients not only have repeated coughing, sputum production, and wheezing, but the volume of the lungs will also increase, and more air remains in the lungs. , the volume ratio of the volume of these residual gases to the total lung volume increases significantly. If the disease progresses further, leading to a severe decline in lung function and irreversible narrowing and obstruction of the airway, the disease will enter the stage of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Why does chronic bronchitis lead to emphysema and bullae? This is related to chronic bronchitis leading to repeated inflammation of the trachea leading to stenosis and obstruction of the lumen. We know that chronic bronchitis is mostly related to long-term inhalation of cigarettes and industrial dust, repeated tracheal infection in childhood, allergies, and other factors that damage the trachea. Constantly damage the internal structure of the trachea, resulting in cell shedding, glandular hyperplasia, smooth muscle hyperplasia, and collapse of the tracheobronchial support structure, especially the cilia on the surface of the tracheal epithelial cells. The function of its porter is reduced, and a large amount of mucus accumulates in the trachea, which aggravates the stenosis of the trachea, and eventually causes the patient to increase the two-way resistance of inhalation and exhalation, resulting in dyspnea.
Then, why do patients with emphysema have a longer expiratory phase? This is related to the breathing process. As we all know, when a person inhales, the entire chest expands outward, pulling the lungs to passively expand and sucking air in from the outside through the trachea In the lungs, at this time, all the trachea and bronchi in the lungs will be relatively expanded, partially relieving the problem of lumen obstruction, while the process is reversed when exhaling, the thoracic collapsed lungs will also shrink, and the trachea and bronchi will become narrower, so When patients with emphysema exhale, the tracheobronchial stenosis is more serious, and the expiratory phase is relatively prolonged, and the air is difficult to get rid of. This is also the cause of emphysema. Some air remains in the lungs and expands the lungs. Large and long-term damage to the alveoli leads to rupture and fusion of the alveoli to form bullae, and finally to COPD, which is the classic trilogy of chronic bronchitis.
The treatment of emphysema is firstly to get rid of all possible causes of bronchitis, including smoking and other irritating chemical odors, and to control underlying diseases, such as asthma. The use of drugs that can dilate the trachea and relieve breathing pressure, such as bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids, can effectively relieve airway obstruction, reduce respiratory resistance, and partially control emphysema symptoms.