As much as the health sector has been constantly advocating the risks and ill-effects of smoking, one may find it surprising why a majority of individuals still engage in it. Smoking is hazardous to the health, plain and simple. As much as smoking gives one an air of elegance, it may be worth mulling over if smoking is worth it despite its health consequences. Almost often, smoking as a habit and an addiction starts in the teenage years. The teenage smoking trend remains to be alarming with 6000 teenagers being introduced to smoking everyday with 3000 of them becoming habitual smokers potentially for life.
Advertising and propaganda certainly have much to do with the prevalence of smoking and when once hooked on nicotine, an individual may find it exigent to break free from the clutches of smoking until eventually they are trapped in the mire of chronic conditions such as
. Emphysema is regarded as the 15th most chronic condition in the United States with nearly 2 million of Americans suffering from it. Those who are most inclined to suffer from emphysema are men aged 65 and over. The primary cause of emphysema is long term smoking and much more unfortunate is that emphysema symptoms almost often do not manifest until they become irreversible.
Consider this. When one lets the air out of a balloon, it is supposed to deflate, right? In the case of
, the lungs are like a balloon that does not deflate even when the air is let out. That is certainly strange, and it is indeed alarming as this is not an inherent mechanism of the lungs. What causes this manifestation of emphysema to occur? When this condition develops, there is generally damage to some of the 300 million alveoli within the lungs. The alveoli are tiny, thin-walled air sacs clustered at the end of the airways within the lungs.
When these air sacs loose their elasticity, it is then that an individual has difficulty breathing and there is an onset of emphysema. As the alveoli lose their ability to shrink and expand while breathing, stale air becomes trapped in the alveoli and some rupture to form one large air space in the lungs instead of many small ones. When an individual exhales, the trapped air cannot be fully release causing labored breathing which is the foremost symptom of the disease. In the initial stages of emphysema, dyspnea or shortness of breath is generally experienced during activity. As the condition progresses, however, an individual may begin to struggle for air even when quietly sitting or lying down.
As the condition develops gradually, labored breathing may eventually become noticeable but during this stage, the damage has generally become irreversible. To date, there has been no known cure for emphysema, only relief and alleviation of its symptoms. As much as it may sound very elementary the best cure for emphysema remains to be prevention. When one is in the habit of smoking, it is best that one quits. A healthy lifestyle of incorporating natural health supplements into a health regimen such as those rich in antioxidants like zinc, gingko biloba and astragalus may be helpful in preventing the condition from worsening.
N-Acetyl L-Cyeteine and L-Glutamine are included in emphysema treatment measures as well as they help the body synthesize glutathione, an essential antioxidant. Grape seed and green tea may also provide antioxidant support thereby promoting general health and may be helpful in
treatment measures.
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