Emphysema: Causes and Symptoms

While environmental pollution can cause emphysema, cigarette smoking is by far the most common cause. The chemicals in cigarette smoke are thought to damage the delicate walls of the alveoli (air sacs in the lungs), ultimately breaking them down. This destruction leaves larger air sacs that are less efficient at processing the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide that allows us to breathe properly..

How Emphysema is Diagnosed

Emphysema Treatments

Illustration by A.D.A.M.