Beruflich Dokumente
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AIRWAY IN BRONCHITIS
Mucus
OW
FL
Swelling
AI
FL
OW
EMPHYSEMA
IR
Restricted
air flow
Microscopic view of
normal Alveoli
What is emphysema?
Emphysema is a condition that involves damage to
the walls of the air sacs (alveoli) of the lung. Normally
there are more than 300 million alveoli in the lung.
The alveoli are normally stretchy and springy, like
little balloons. Like a balloon, it takes effort to blow up
normal alveoli; however, it takes no energy to empty the
AmJRespirCritCareMedVol.171P3-P4,2005 Online Version Updated September 2013
ATS Patient EducationSeries 2013 American Thoracic Society
www.thoracic.org
http://patients.thoracic.org/information-series/index.php
COPD Foundation
http://www.copdfoundation.org/What-is-COPD/Understanding-COPD/What-is-COPD.aspx
National Heart Lung & Blood Institute
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/copd/
American Lung Association
http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/copd/about-copd/understanding-copd.html
What to do
The ATS Patient Information Series is a public service of the American Thoracic Society and its journal, the AJRCCM. The information appearing
in this series is for educational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for the medical advice one ones personal health care
provider. For further information about this series, contact J.Corn at jcorn@thoracic.org.
www.thoracic.org