There are a couple dozen other elements that are in there in trace amounts, but to a first approximation you're just a bag of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Now, it turns out that the atmosphere is a bag of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen as well, and it's not living.
Cigarette smoking is the most common irritant that causes emphysema. Pipe, cigar, and other types of tobacco smoking can also cause emphysema, especially if the smoke is inhaled. Fumes and Dust. Breathing in other fumes and dusts over a long period of time may also cause the disease.
Emphysema is a chronic (long-term) lung disease, usually caused by smoking. Emphysema is the main form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Diagnosing emphysema usually requires pulmonary function tests, combined with a history of symptoms, such as shortness of breath.iagnosing emphysema can't be done with an X-ray alone. Computed tomography (CT scan) of the chest: A CT scan in someone with emphysema may show small pockets of air throughout the lung.