Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Risk factors and risk reduction. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Education 2015. In: Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research 2016. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier 2016. In: Murray and Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. What is COPD? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.In addition to reducing the amount of space available for the lung to expand, giant bullae can increase your risk of pneumothorax. Some people with emphysema develop empty spaces in the lungs called bullae.

This can cause a condition called cor pulmonale, in which a section of the heart expands and weakens. Emphysema can increase the pressure in the arteries that connect the heart and lungs. This is uncommon but serious when it occurs. A collapsed lung can be life-threatening in people who have severe emphysema, because the function of their lungs is already so compromised. People who have emphysema are also more likely to develop:

Breathing indoor pollutants, such as fumes from heating fuel, as well as outdoor pollutants - car exhaust, for instance - increases your risk of emphysema. Exposure to indoor and outdoor pollution.If you breathe fumes from certain chemicals or dust from grain, cotton, wood or mining products, you're more likely to develop emphysema. Occupational exposure to fumes or dust.Being around secondhand smoke increases your risk of emphysema. Secondhand smoke, also known as passive or environmental tobacco smoke, is smoke that you inadvertently inhale from someone else's cigarette, pipe or cigar. Although the lung damage that occurs in emphysema develops gradually, most people with tobacco-related emphysema begin to experience symptoms of the disease between the ages of 40 and 60. The risk for all types of smokers increases with the number of years and amount of tobacco smoked. Emphysema is most likely to develop in cigarette smokers, but cigar and pipe smokers also are susceptible. Risk factorsįactors that increase your risk of developing emphysema include: It's called alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency emphysema. Rarely, emphysema is caused by an inherited deficiency of a protein that protects the elastic structures in the lungs. The main cause of emphysema is long-term exposure to airborne irritants, including:

Physiologic dead space in emphysema