What Happens in Emphysema?
Emphysema results when the delicate linings of the air sacs in the lungs become damaged beyond repair. Most commonly, the toxins in cigarette smoke create the damage. The lung changes of emphysema evolve slowly over years:
As the fragile tissues between air sacs are destroyed, air pockets in the lungs develop.
Air becomes trapped in these spaces of damaged lung tissue.
The lungs slowly enlarge, and breathing requires more effort.
This problem of emphysema is called airflow limitation. During lung function testing, it takes someone with emphysema far longer to empty their lungs than it does a person without emphysema