What is the difference between asthma and emphysema?

Asthma refers to a long-term respiratory disease or an inflammatory disease of the airways, usually characterized by a sudden or an unexpected constriction of the airways, most times in response to cold air, emotional stress, certain allergens, exercise, etc. Emphysema, on the other hand, is a chronic lung disease that affects the lung alveoli and also leads to the destruction of the alveoli.

In the case of asthma, the allergen causing the sudden constriction of the airways can be present in the body or external material. Most times, these allergens are harmless, but asthma will give an exaggerated response to them. The common symptoms of asthma are breathlessness, wheezing, and cough.

Emphysema is usually caused by excessive smoking or due to the deficiency of alpha-1 antitrypsin enzyme, thereby causing the destruction of the alveolar sacs. Although emphysema has symptoms similar to asthma such as breathlessness, cough, wheezing, other symptoms of emphysema include phlegm production, chest pain, etc.

Lungs have one of the most important functions of the body, for the air that goes in and out of the lungs are what helps us breathe. Though it is important, it is not exempt from having diseases and it is important to control them so a person can breathe. Two diseases that a person can experience in their lungs are asthma and emphysema.

Asthma is an inflammatory disease A person with asthma can experience a number of symptoms such as coughing and trouble breathing. Emphysema impacts the tissue of the lungs. This is caused by smoking or not having enough alpha-1 enzymes.

The definition of asthma is given as: an inflammatory disease of the lungs' airways that produces a reversible obstruction as a result of the airways' spasmodic constriction. On the other hand, the definition of emphysema can be given as: a disease of the tissue of the lung, the lung alveoli or air sacs which is present at the bronchial tubes end to be précised.

When these lung alveoli are being destroyed, it results into emphysema, which is now present as an irreversible pathology. The traits that accompany asthma include breathlessness, cough, and wheezing. Asthma is considered to be an allergic response, a strange reaction of the body to a sort of harmless foreign agent. As it has been said earlier in this article that emphysema happens to be a chronic lung disease; it is usually caused by too much of smoking or the deficiency of alpha-1 antitrypsin enzyme.