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.
View All. Symptoms of emphysema are insidious in nature and may not, at first, be easy to recognize. Emphysema is among a group of lung diseases known as COPD, in which the alveoli of the lungs become damaged, causing them to enlarge and burst. Because the alveoli are where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged, damage to this area makes it difficult for people with emphysema to expel all their air. This causes a build-up of carbon dioxide in the body.