Emphysema is also one of the main conditions that make up chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), so it's important to seek care for your symptoms early to lower your risk of complications.

Notably, the odds for emphysema dropped by 34% (OR = 0.66; 95% CI, 0.49-0.9) with each increase in APDQS standard deviation by one.

Although emphysema is not hereditary, a rare genetic condition called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) can pass down in families and cause the disease. Learn more here.

“Emphysema is usually a description of images — CT scan or X-ray — and is only one part of the disease of COPD,” says Uddalak Majumdar, MD, pulmonologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio ...