What is Emphysema?

Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath due to over-inflation of the air sacs in the lung. Emphysema is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD (pulmonary refers to the lungs).

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What is it like to have Emphysema?

Common Symptoms Patients' Latest Severity My Current Severity  
Severity
Severe
Moderate
Mild
None
Cough None Mild Moderate Severe
Shortness of breath (dyspnea) None Mild Moderate Severe
Wheezing None Mild Moderate Severe

What do patients take to treat Emphysema and its symptoms?

Commonly prescribed and frequently used treatments

Treatment name Efficacy Overall rating of side effects # of Evaluations
Prednisone
(Encorton, Deltasone, Pronizon)
1
0
0
Fluticasone
(Avamys, Flovent Diskus, Fluticapen, Flixotide)
0
Beclomethasone
(Clenil Modulate, Beclomethasone nasal, Clenil Modulite, Apo-Beclomethasone nasal spray)
0
0
0
Methylprednisolone
(Urbason solubile, Methylprednisolon AL, Advantan, Medrol DosePak)
0
Budesonide
(Pulmicort Respules, Budesonide Nasal, Entocort EC, Pulmicort Flexhaler)
0
Flunisolide
(AeroBid, Nasarel, Flunisolide Nasal)
0
mometasone
(Elocon, Asmanex Twisthaler 120 Dose, Asmanex Twisthaler 30 Dose, Asmanex Twisthaler 60 Dose)
0

These charts show data from Emphysema patients' latest treatment evaluations

Who has Emphysema at PatientsLikeMe?

<20 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+
Current Age
Distribution of females vs. males
Gender
67% Females
33% Males
Age at first symptom
Age at first symptom # of patients Proportion
0-19 yrs 1
20-29 yrs 4
30-39 yrs 9
40-49 yrs 10
50-59 yrs 16
60-69 yrs 3
70+ yrs 0
Diagnosis status
Diagnosis status # of patients Proportion
Diagnosed 57

These charts show data from Emphysema patients who have completed their condition history