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).

How do members experience emphysema?

Top 5 symptoms reported by people with emphysema*

*Reports may be affected by other conditions and/or medication side effects. We ask about general symptoms (anxious mood, depressed mood, fatigue, pain, and stress) regardless of condition.

Top treatments taken by people for emphysema*

*Data from patients with emphysema, who have ever reported treatments, ordered by their reporting frequency during the last 5 years.

Compare treatments taken by people with emphysema*

Treatment
Perceived effectiveness
Side effects
Total evaluations
Tried for
Treatment

(Albuterol Inhaler)
Perceived effectiveness
No evaluations
Side effects
No evaluations
Total evaluations
0
Tried for
emphysema (1)
Treatment

(Pulmicort)
Perceived effectiveness
No evaluations
Side effects
No evaluations
Total evaluations
0
Tried for
emphysema (1)
Treatment

(Solu-Medrol Infusion)
Perceived effectiveness
for emphysema (1 evaluation)
Side effects
insomnia
Total evaluations
1
Tried for
emphysema (1)

*Data from patients with emphysema, who have ever reported treatments, ordered by their reporting frequency during the last 5 years.

Who has emphysema on PatientsLikeMe?

Age

Age Proportion # of patients
<20 0
20s 1
30s 5
40s 35
50s 97
60s 183
70+ 232

Distribution of sex

Sex

Sex Proportion # of patients
Male 173
Female 377