Emphysema is a lung disease. It kills around 20 000 people in Britain every year, whether they are passive smoking or active smoking. Passive smoking is where the people who don't smoke, but inhale the smoker's smoke. The risk is very low for passive smokers to get emphysema. Active smokers, which you probably have guessed, are the people who smoke. These people have a very high risk of getting this illness because the smoke they inhale goes to the lungs. The smoke damages the walls of the alveoli, which break down and get together, and form irregular air spaces.
This reduces the surface area for gas exchange. The blood of a person with emphysema carries less oxygen.
Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is one of the most common and serious types of cancer. Over 41,000 people are diagnosed with the condition every year in the UK.
There are usually no signs or symptoms in the early stages of lung cancer, but many people with the condition will eventually develop symptoms including:
- a persistent cough
- coughing up blood
- persistent breathlessness
- unexplained tiredness and weight loss
- an ache or pain when breathing or coughing
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