Treatment

As all of us know, Emphysema is a kind of lung disease that could not be cured and it is a slow killer. The damage done to lung is permanent and  irreversible. The objective of treatment is to halt futher  lung destruction  and preserve lung function. Patients taking treatment regularly may have improvement on quality of lives as they are able to limit the intrusion of emphysema on their daily activities.

Undoubtedly, Emphysema would not be the primary cause of death; yet, it is a contributing factor to failure of other organs and eventually the body of patients may be broken down.

Here is the common treatment of Emphysema :

Smoking cessation

The most vital thing for a person  who has been diagnosed with emphysema is to quit smoking immediately. Every cigarette smoked causes more damage to the lungs. In order to halt the disease's progression, quitting is the most ideal way.

Inhale therapy~ Bronchodilators

Bronchodilators improve breathing and lung function by relaxing the smooth muscles that surround the bronchioles,allowing the breathing tubes to dilate and air to flow in more freely and smoothly. This medication can be used in 3 ways~ MDI (metered dose inhaler), powder inhaler devices, or a nebulizer machine. Furthermore, this medication can either be short or long lasting. Normally, the long acting bronchodilator is used for controlling the symptoms of emphysema as maintenance therapy whereas the short acting one is used when symptoms flare up (as a rescue therapy). **Patient ought to comprehend that whivh medication is prescribed, since long acting inhalers cannot be used for rescue, because the delayed onset of action.

Antibiotics

Patients with emphysema are at high risk for infections which can be life threatening like pneumonia. Hence antibiotics may be prescribed to clear up those bacterial lung infections , which lungs damaged by emphysema are more prone to.

Supplemental oxygen

As the disease worsens, patients may require supplemental oxygen which comes with a nose tube attached via a long tube to a bottle of oxygen  to be able to carry out respiration well. Some of the patients use it during nighttime only yet there are patients need to use oxygen throughout  the day for routine activities. It depends on patients to decide what kind of supplemental oxygen to be used based on their symptoms as well as other tests including oximetry, pulmonary function tests, and arterial blood gas measurements.

Pulmonary rehabilitation

These programs can be divided into 2 components ~ education and exercises

Patient education includes:

• proper breathing techniques,
• clearance of secretions,
• understanding their medications and devices,
• efficient body mechanics, and
• networking with other lung patients.

** All of this above are part of the essential components for the treatment of emphysema. Graded physical exercise under supervision are encouraged for the patient’s better mobility.

Bullectomy

For the patients encountering problem with air sacs being broken down into pieces which is known as bullae, they are goog candidates for this surgical procedure in which the bullae is removed, allowing the surrounding healthier lung tissues to expand and work more efficiently.

 Lung Volume Reduction Surgery (LVRS)

This surgery is mainly about reducing the lung size which will pull open the airways as well as allow the breathing muscles to return to a nearly normal and comfortable position, making patients’ respiration easier .

*For more information,kindly refer the link below:

 http://www.emedicinehealth.com/emphysema/page6_em.htm