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Enthasemia (sp?) Please help!

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
U may have seen on the sex billboard, my post about my fiance never wanting sex anymore and does it once a week just to satisfy me,but he even admitted last night that he doesnt enjoy it.He said that he gets too out of breath and he's going for a medical on Tuesday cos the doctor thinks he could have a terminal illness called (something like) Enthasemia.Im so scared and worried.Please if anyone has any information on this illness I would be very greatfull. Thanx xxx

Comments

  • Girl-From-MarsGirl-From-Mars Posts: 2,822 Boards Guru
    i think you mean emphysema. i dont even know if thats spelt right! lol

    i dont think its a terminal illness. from what i can work out, its a lung condition and it leaves someone vulernable to illnesses such as bronchitis and pneumonia, and its not going to kill you by itself, just that it cant be cured and can only be treated.

    i think. <IMG alt="image" alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/confused.gif"&gt; im sure someone else will have some better information than that, just thought id reply in the meantime to maybe stop you worrying so much <IMG alt="image" alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/smile.gif"&gt;

    It only takes one tree to make a thousand matches, only takes one match to burn a thousand trees
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think you do probably mean emphysema (yes it is spelled right GFM!). It's difficult to explain because I don't know how much you know about the lungs and how they work, so I'm sorry if this post looks really long!

    When you breathe in the air goes into the lungs which are full of tiny passages which end in air sacs which look like bunches of grapes. Blood vessels run round the outsides of these sacs so that the red blood cells can pick up the oxygen from the air. The air sacs are shaped like a buch of grapes so there's as much surface area as possible, and therefore the blood cells can pick up as much oxygen as possible.

    Emphysema is where the walls of the air sacs have got more rounded, mostly through prolonged coughing (ie. from chronic bronchitis or smoker's cough). This decreases the surface area and less oxygen can be picked up by the blood cells, making the sufferer feel breathless.

    The doctors will probably take a chest x-ray to confirm the diagnosis. Emphysema is a progressive condition, meaning that it gets worse over time, and the earlier the doctors diagnose it the more likely it is that they can stop it getting worse, although as far as I know they can't reverse the damage already done. If your fiance is a smoker he'll definitely be advised to quit as soon as possible.

    What GFM says is right, emphysema won't kill you by itself. However, it leaves the sufferer at risk of heart failure because of reduced oxygen supplies which put a strain on the heart.

    I'm sure if the doctors confirm that it's emphysema they'll tell you about it properly, but I hope this has stopped you worrying a bit, it's not great news but at least you know the facts now.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't suppose tere's a possibility it could be asthma is there?

    I found this, which is quite informative http://www.lungusa.org/diseases/lungemphysem.html

    I hope you're (both) going to be ok

    j9
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