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| Lung Disease Emphysema |
Question:
How does smoking effect the lung disease emphysema?
Answer:
Cigarette smoking is credited with being the major cause of
emphysema--a noncancerous lung disease that gradually destroys breathing
capacity. All adults start with about 100 square yards of interior lung
surface. This large surface is created by the lungs' thousands of tiny
air sacs. In emphysema, the walls between the sacs break down, creating
larger and fewer sacs--thus gradually diminishing interior lung surface.
The process appears to proceed with continued cigarette smoking.
Eventually, lung surface, through which vital oxygen is taken from air
into the blood, is so small that the patient spends most of his energy
gasping for breath, an oxygen bottle close at hand. Emphysema cripples
its victims and kills some 16,000 Americans each year.
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