Oxygen is extracted from air you breathe through your lungs. How much oxygen you get to your vital organs depends on a number of factors. Oxygen levels are especially important for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema and...
Tobacco was the first crop to be grown for profit in North America, according to the Health Literacy Organization. Despite the undeniable list of hazardous and potentially deadly side effects that cigarette smoking has generated, the tobacco...
Smoking will shorten your life by at least 10 years, plus the habit costs thousands of dollars a year to maintain, according to Teens Health. Additionally, cigarette smoke damages the respiratory and cardiovascular system and causes diseases such...
Regardless of what many might think, nicotine is an addictive drug. It causes changes in the brain, making people want to use it more, and its withdrawal symptoms are less than pleasant. Historically, it is one of the hardest addictions to break,...
Emphysema is an incurable condition, caused by irreversible damage to the lungs, that results in shortness of breath, chest tightness and a chronic cough. As the disease progresses, your lungs may be unable to provide enough oxygen to your...
Emphysema is a chronic lung disease in which the plump, grape-like air sacs in the lungs become damaged and turn into large, empty holes. As a result of this transformation, your oxygen saturation levels fall, because the amount of oxygen that can...
Smoking is frequently cited as a major health hazard that can cause a number of diseases, many of which are preventable by not smoking. The health hazards of smoking are well-documented and include a wide range of respiratory and other conditions....
Coughing is your body's way of clearing irritating material and mucus from the airway. Coughs can also be the result of illness. Acute coughs, which last no longer than three weeks, often develop along with a cold, a sinus infection or the flu....
Smoking cigarettes has many negative effects. While most people are concerned with life-threatening problems like lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema, it will also have an impact on your energy level and eating habits. The combination of...
Lung damage begins early for smokers, as smoking quickly interferes with proper lung function. The condition of the lungs worsens as a person continues to smoke. Smokers usually realize the lung damage they are causing when they start to have...
Lung cancer may get the majority of attention as a disease primarily caused by cigarette smoke, but emphysema also gets its start most of the time from inhaling tobacco fumes. Classified as a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema occurs...
Peripheral edema, commonly referred to as swelling of the feet, is the result of excess fluid build up in the muscles and tissues of the legs. Gravity naturally pulls fluid towards to the lower extremities and as people age, blood vessels lose...
A dangerous addiction, smoking causes about one in five deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. The nicotine in the cigarettes damages the lungs, which causes smokers to have shortness of breath or frequent coughs. The Cleveland Clinic...
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disorder characterized by emphysema and chronic bronchitis. This means the walls between the tiny air sacs in the lungs become damaged and lose their elasticity. In addition, the lining of the...
Heavy smoking is a dangerous habit that can cause conditions that affect the heart, lungs and other major organs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, male smokers are 23 times more likely to develop lung cancer and female...
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, often called COPD, refers to a group of diseases that prevent the lungs from working normally. C stands for chronic because the disease is constant and irreversible. O stands for obstructive because the...
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that, as of 2008, 46 million American adults are smokers. Smoking-related diseases cause one in five deaths in the United States. Although smoking-related diseases are preventable, many smokers...
Bronchitis is a respiratory infection that is either acute or chronic. Acute bronchitis typically lasts only several days. It is usually caused by a viral infection, reports the University of Maryland Medical Center. Exposure to cigarette smoke,...
An estimated 24.8 million men and 21.1 million women are smokers, putting them at risk for heart disease, emphysema, lung cancer and numerous other disorders and diseases, according to the American Heart Association. Quitting smoking can be a...
Children suffering from cystic fibrosis and adults suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or emphysema have one thing in common ---- they need to clear accumulated mucus from their lungs daily so that they don't run the risk of...
Many people begin smoking as teenagers to fit in, rebel against their parents' rules or because family members smoke. Smoking cigarettes and using other tobacco products poses serious health risks. Anti-smoking education programs inform both...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in every five deaths in America is smoking-related. Smoking impacts every system in the body and increases the risk of many health problems. Smoking also creates barriers to good...
Nicotine is a chemical substance found in tobacco products. According to Discovery Health, nicotine is a naturally occurring alkaline stimulant. While the affects of nicotine are initially stimulating to the individual, nicotine can become...
Smoking cigarettes affects every part of the body and the health of those who reside in the environment with the smoker. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of every five deaths can be blamed on cigarette smoking,...
A nebulizer is a machine that turns liquid medicine into a mist that is then inhaled into the lungs. These inhaled medications are used to treat asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, bronchitis and other respiratory ailments....
The body must carefully control the amount of acidic and alkaline components in the blood because the proper balance of the two compounds is necessary for the function of different proteins. Acidosis, which is caused by there being more acidic...
Chronic insomnia can result from many factors. Some of them are controllable when a certain substance is involved. Other causes of frequent insomnia may have deep underlying origins that need to be examined and banished with the help of...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cancer (including lung cancer) is the second-leading cause of death in the United States and other respiratory diseases are the fourth leading cause of American deaths. There are...
Smoking is the number one cause of premature, preventable death in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. While everybody knows the health problems that smoking causes--heart disease, cancer, stroke, lung disease--smoking...
Emphysema is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease most often caused by exposure to tobacco smoke or toxic material. Learn more about emphysema, including symptoms and treatments, in this video.
Learn how to treat Respiratory problems with acupuncture in this free chinese medicine video lesson from our alternative cure expert.
