Facing Cold Weather With Emphysema

Emphysema is a lung-related disease. In a healthy person, when breathing in, the lungs stretch, and when breathing out, they shrink. However, when the lungs are damaged, the walls between the alveoli are damaged which results in larger chest cavity because of the trapped air in the lungs. As a result, lungs lose their elasticity, which causes shortness of breath. At the beginning, it presents as you are exercising and gradually even with minimum activity or at rest, you will find it difficult to breathe.

How Does Emphysema Happen?

For healthy people, airflow in and out of lungs is balanced and fluent, but for those with emphysema, it is restricted. Cold and dry air causes constriction of the airways and results in more labroid breath. This condition is more dangerous for people with asthma as cold air may trigger an asthma attack. Exposure to cold air is considered the number one trigger of emphysema(http://www.mitamins.com/disease/Emphysema.html), leading to very severe consequences. But this does not mean that one can never go out on cold days in this condition. As long as precautions which focus on breathing are taken, you can do whatever you want to do and go wherever you want to go during the cold winter. The following tips may help! The nose and mouth are the most sensitive organs, so avoid exposing them to the cold air as much as possible. Wearing a cloth or face mask should help. Breathe through your nose instead of your mouth, as the nose is able to warm the air before it enters the respiratory tract.

Traditional Management of Emphysema

There are two main traditional methods to treat emphysema(http://www.mitamins.com/disease/Emphysema.html): non-surgical and surgical methods. If the symptoms are mild, non-surgical methods can prevent them from worsening and/or reoccurring. Such methods as quitting smoking, exercising, taking medication, and therapeutic oxygen-consumption have all been found to be helpful. If the symptoms are severe, these measures of precaution may not help. In this case, the patients will usually be recommended for surgery. Lung volume reduction and lung transplantation are two effective operations. The former is a removal of the damaged parts of the lungs so that the remaining lung can function more normally, while the latter is a complete transplant, where healthy lungs are used to replace the unhealthy ones.

Natural Treatment of the Disease

Adjusting your diet according to your doctor is the first step in the natural treatment of emphysema(http://www.mitamins.com/disease/Emphysema.html). You should put yourself on a high protein, low sugar diet which can help you breathe easier. Making up nutritional deficiencies caused by smoking or stress will also help in treating emphysema. Natural treatment of emphysema in supplement form is focused on lung system recovery and repair and contains botanicals such as Ginkgo Biloba and Astragalu. By quitting smoking, eating a nutrition-rich diet, and taking natural supplements, you may well be able to leave emphysema behind you.