Who gets Emphysema?

Persons with emphysema are, for the most part, males between 50 and 70 years old. Women get emphysema, too, but so far, not as often as men. However these statistics are changing as women are starting to smoke more, and at an earlier age.

A very high percentage of the people who have emphysema smoke cigarettes and have been heavy smokers for many years. Frequently, they live in areas where air pollution is a constant problem. Some people are born with a lack of a substance called alpha-1 antitrypsin.

This makes them more likely than others to get emphysema and at an earlier age. How it Attacks A person with emphysema doesn?t develop the disease suddenly. It comes on gradually.

He or she has probably had several very bad colds each winter for the past few years, each accompanied by a heavy cough, and often with chronic bronchitis. The cough often persists between colds and becomes chronic.

The thing that usually brings the patient to the doctor is that he or she has begun to feel short of breath on exertion in morning or evening or both. The patient may think he or she has asthma or heart disease.