Who discovered emphysema and when?
Familial emphysema discovered by James Jackson, Jr Emphysema has been around as long as cigars. Also, Emphysema has benn around for thousands of years, since the egyptian times. Emphysema was just recently discovered. BMJ 1994;309:1244-45 (12 November) Editorials Pulmonary emphysema The treatment of advanced pulmonary emphysema is a serious and depressing problem for respiratory physicians. The patients, mainly smokers or former smokers, suffer from progressive disability and have a reduced life expectancy. Such patients are short of breath on mild exertion and have hyperresonant chests and quiet or absent breath sounds. Destruction of the alveolar walls is a key feature of the disease. Emphysema can be divided into pathological types according to the distribution of the enlarged air spaces within the acinus (the section of the lung that is supplied by a single terminal bronchiole2). Two types seem important. In the centriacinar form the enlarged air spaces are in the centre of the aci
