Brief Answer:
Emphysema is structural lung disease.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for your question on Health Care Magic.
I can understand your concern.
Emphysema is structural lung disease.
In this lung parenchyma and airways are permanently dilated due to structural damage.
Most common cause for this is cigarette smoke.
Other causes are recurrent lung infection, pollution, chemical exposure, familial, congenital, severe allergies etc.
And for diagnosis you need to consult pulmonologist and get done
1. Clinical examination of respiratory system
2. Chest x ray
3. PFT (Pulmonary Function Test).
Chest x ray is needed to rule out other Pulmonary causes.
PFT is must for the diagnosis of emphysema.
It will also tell you about severity of the disease.
And treatment of emphysema is based on severity only.
With proper inhaled treatment and smoking cessation, prognosis is good.
Hope I have solved your query.
I will be happy to help you further.
Wish you good health. Thanks.

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Brief Answer:
Yes, progression can be stopped with treatment.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for your follow up question on HCM.
I can understand your concern.
Yes, in early stages of emphysema, we can definitely stop the progression of disease through inhaled bronchodilators.
So with treatment emphysema progression can be halted and symptomatic improvement can be achieved.
And yes, albuterol is good drug for emphysema.
It is long acting beta 2 agonist (LABA) and it is treatment of choice for emphysema.
So continue it.
Hope I have solved your query.
If you are not having further queries, then please close the conversation and rate my answer.
You can ask me directly on bit.ly/askdrkaushalbhavsar.
Wish you good health. Thanks.

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