Is emphysema and COPD hereditary?

Question

My father had emphysema and COPD for the last 30 years of his life, and no he didn't smoke. He had in the past but had since quit. I took my turn taking care of him and watched him get worse and worse until the day he took his last breath. Now, a year later, I keep getting bronchitis and need inhalers. I cough and wheeze and sound just like my father did. The cough sounds identical and I have every symptom he did. I even get shaky and winded after a long coughing fit. It often scares me when I realize how farmiliar this all is. And here's the real kicker...I am only 24 and I have never smoked a day in my life! When I was a kid I was often hospitalized for severe asthma attacks and pnemonia, but I was told I grew out of the asthma and am fine now. Could I be developing emphysema even though I have never smoked before and I am only 24?

Answer 1

Both my grandmother and my father have COPD; my grandmother has also recently been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
The way I understand the whole thing works is this:
-Based on family history, some of us may be pre-disposed to having COPD/chronic bronchitis, etc.
-Smoking raises that risk big time.
-Exposure to secondhand smoke raises that risk as well.
-Having been previously treated for asthma and other respiratory illnesses, you have an elevated risk of developing COPD.
-There are treatments available that can help with the symptoms of the disease, but there is no cure. I've heard about a lung volume reduction surgery that has had some promising results.
-The only way you are going to be sure of your exact state of health is to make an apoointment with a pulmonologist, lay out your family history and your own medical hisory, and request a full workup (including x-rays and lung volume testing).
-Good luck. Take heart in the knowledge that the earlier the disease is caught, the more you can do about it!

Answer 2

Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are the most common forms of COPD.

COPD tends to occur more often in some families, so there may be an inherited tendency. A rare cause of COPD is a hereditary condition in which the body produces a markedly decreased amount of the protein alpha1-antitrypsin.

Answer 3

Is Copd Hereditary

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Is emphysema and COPD hereditary?
My father had emphysema and COPD for the last 30 years of his life, and no he didn't smoke. He had in the past but had since quit. I took my turn taking care of him and watched him get worse and worse until the day he took his last breath. Now, a year later, I keep getting bronchitis and need...

Answer 5

According to the CDC's first analysis of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to include COPD, of those responding who reported a physician diagnosis of COPD not 15 but 25% where never smokers. This isn't stated explicitly though easily calculated from the results in the table. You can look at the link but asthma was a significant risk factor in addition to age. If one considers that there an estimated 13 million nationally diagnosed and a presumed 12 additional million undiagnosed, that would indicate that there are 6-7 million never smokers living with COPD in this country. That said, for your age it is rare, though not unheard of.

Answer 6

COPD tends to occur more often in some families, so there may be inherited. A rare cases of COPD is a hereditary condition. Hereditary deficiency of an enzyme called alpha-1 antitrypsin confers significant increased risk. Unlike other forms of COPD, lung damage in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency appears relatively early in life. Patients with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency also may have liver disease and other organ system damage, and they are more vulnerable to the damaging effects of cigarette smoke.

However it may be caused by enviorment and pollutants, (i.e. living in a city). It has been linked to other factors, such as hyperresponsive airways, respiratory infections, and exposure to dust and environmental pollutants.

Answer 7

emphysema copd hereditary: https://tinyurl.im/e/is-emphysema-and-copd-hereditary

Answer 8

Yes it is