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 caused by smoking most often occurs in the upper lobes of the lungs. In chronic bronchitis, smoking triggers inflammation that causes damage in the airways. The processes involved include: 1  Damage to the cilia, the hair-like waving projections that move mucus, bacteria, and foreign particles out of the lungs. 2  Enlargement of the mucus glands in the large airways of the lungs. 3  Overgrowth of smooth muscle cells in the airway.