How Long Does Emphysema Take to Kill You?

… Continued …

Most patients with mild emphysema (80 percent) are alive after 4 years.
About 60-70 percent of patients with moderate cases will survive after 4 years.
In severe cases (FEV1 is less than 35 percent of normal), only 50 percent of patients are alive after 4 years.
In the worst scenario, when the disease has become very severe (this is usually followed with the worst symptoms such as severe weight loss and inability to walk), it has the shortest life expectancy.

This suggests the life expectancy declines with more advanced stage of the disease, as noted before. But again, emphysema varies widely. Even in two patients at the same stage, it can still vary.

There is still no large study to determine the effect of this respiratory disease on life expectancy. The best and largest studies only include a few hundred patients.

Things to remember!

Emphysema life expectancy statistics are available. But these are purposed for general information only – or not reliable enough for individual patient looking for emphysema life expectancy! For more detailed information about your own life expectancy, talk to your primary doctor!
Currently, there is no cure for this respiration condition – but some effective treatments are available to control it and prevent it from getting worse.
But the most important thing is whether or not you can stop smoking! This can play a key role to the prognosis and outlook of your emphysema! It can be the single most important variable to improve your life expectancy, too. A study suggests that patients who continue to smoke, the severity of the disease increase significantly, decreasing life span by about 10 years or even more!

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