Medical Questions » Lungs Questions » Question No. 591
| Question: | My wife recently died from emphysema after being a smoker most of her life. I was not present at the time of her death, and would relieve my mind greatly to have your advice on how she would have passed away. Would she have suffered much? |
| Answer: | Emphysema is a disease that is suffered by smokers and others who have had recurrent lung infections. It results in the slow destruction of the lung tissue.
In the advanced stages, victims are constantly short of breath, lack energy and cough repeatedly. They require a large range of medications, both inhaled and as tablets, to force the lungs to function as much as they can. Oxygen is also required constantly via prongs in the nose or a mask.
Despite all these measures, the patient eventually reaches the stage where there is not enough oxygen being absorbed into the blood from the lungs, and too much carbon dioxide builds up in the bloodstream.
Your wife would have been very tired for weeks or months before her death due to lack of oxygen. This tiredness would have progressively worsened until she fell asleep, never to wake again.
She would not have suffered at the end and her death would have been very peaceful. She was very lucky to have a husband as devoted to her welfare as you obviously were.
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