Why do Alphas with lung disease take asthma medicines?
Many people with emphysema, especially Alphas, have asthma as well. One study indicates that over 70 percent of Alphas with lung disease have asthma at some time during their lives. Asthma is defined as obstruction to the outflow (exhalation) of air from the lungs that can be reversed with medication. The obstruction caused by emphysema itself (thought to be due to loss of the connective tissue that holds the airways open during exhalation) is generally fixed and permanent. Obstruction that can be reversed by bronchodilators, steroids, theophylline, etc., is by definition, asthma. Asthma is generally thought to be due to spasm of the muscles of the bronchial tubes (bronchospasm), inflammation of the airways with swelling, and increased mucus production blocking the airways. If you have lung disease from Alpha-1, you can think of emphysema as the component causing the slow, steady decline in lung function that can’t be reversed (with current technology) and asthma as the part that gives
