Talk:Emphysema
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[edit] Second Paragraph
The second paragraph needs work. I'm not sure what the second sentence is trying to say. --Jose Ramos 13:07, 11 Oct 2003 (UTC)
Emphysema sufferers are not blue bloaters. Blue bloaters describes another chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, chronic bronchitis. Emphysema sufferers are called "pink puffers". That is they hyperventilate. Alternatively, because they hyperventilate, emphysema sufferers are able to maintain adequate blood oxygen levels: they are not cyanotic, which would suggest a low blood oxygen level. In bronchitis, there is a disproportionate loss of perfusion versus ventilation (ie. blood passing through the capillaries surround an alveolus which has no air supply due to a blocked bronchiole, will shunt into the pulmonary veins without picking up oxygen.) so even if people with bronchitis hyperventilate (up their tidal volume by breathing more) they will be unable to maintain adequate blood oxygen levels; so people with bronchitis, and not emphysema, will appear cyanotic. This is where the term "blue bloaters" comes from. "Pink puffers" and "blue bloaters" are not deregatory terms, but are actually mnemonics. They help physicians tell the emphysema apart from bronchitis. It should also be noted that a patient can (and often does) suffer from both emphysema and bronchitis. Both conditions are initiated by an inflammatory response due to some sort of irritating or damaging substance enterying the conducting pathways and/or alveoli (ie. cigarette smoke, pollution, etc) Cigarette smoke paralyzes the action of cilia prevent the removal bacteria or other debris which may have been trapped in the airway. Trapped bacteria, can multiply within the conducting airways, and start an infection. Multiple infections lead to thicking of the tissue in the conducting pathways as well as secretion of excess mucus. These physiological responses can "plug" up airways (usually bronchioles) leading to bronchitis. In emphysema, constant inflammation results in destructive molecules being released within the alveoli. These molecules can damage the alveoli, causing the supporting structures of the alveoli to break down (including capillaries). This break down results in large, distended alveolus, that have a smaller surface area, and a weaker ability to take up oxygen from the lungs.
- Well, if you think so you may edit the article accordingly!
JFW | T@lk 07:30, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)
There is at least one curative therapy on the horizon, 13-cis-retinoic acid (accutane). 10-15% of the pop have predisposing genetic/enzymic problems. WblakesxWblakesx
[edit] POV
I excised the following paragraph. Someone with a medical background should take a lot at it and see if any material from it is salvagable.Zantastik 21:52, 23 Jan 2005 (UTC)
- Given the complex nature of the composition of tobacco smoke, the poor correlation between existing animal models used in research and humans, complex nature of the proteolytic/antiproteolytic properties in the body, various other substances that may be involved (e.g., oxidants), together with differences in potential routes to disease development between different individuals, it may prove to be simpler and more logical to convince smokers to cut down rather than attempting to deduce the pathogenesis of this man-made disease of little biological scientific relevance, as opposed to continuing to pour money into more scientifically inane research that hasn't progressed significantly in the past fifty years into this perfectly preventable disease. This of course aside from the fact that even if the pathogenesis were deduced, to be able to treat the underlying cause with whatever barely effective yet expensive IV injection or inhalant treatment is concocted in the future, may not prove to be practical or worthwhile.
[edit] Types of Emphysema
There's no mention of Centrilobar, Panlobar or Septal emphysema in this article. What's that all about...?
- Be bold and put it in. If you know the terminology then you probably know the relevance of each. JFW | T@lk 08:57, 28 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Vitamin A - possible reversal of disease
Ok, guys, put this in your pipe and smoke it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3329103.stm A study in the European Respiritory Journal shows that increased vitamin A consumption can return elasticity to alveoli in emphysemic mice. It may not be so "irreversible" after all. On the one hand, I don't want to justify smoking (I just quit myself). But on the other hand, if there there is any treatment that's even possibly effective, it should be posted. So I'm going to do that.
