A Healthy Good Life
This is an essay I wrote last year for my freshman English class about how smoking at a young age can lead to Emphysema - a detrimental lung disease. After a recent visit home for Thanksgiving I decided to share it with you all and I hope you all enjoy it and remember to always respect your bodies. Yes, you only live once so take care of your temple now so you will not have to suffer the consequences later.
Shakia Artson
October 24, 2011
Professor Logan
The Great Conversation
A Healthy Good Life
Health may seem unimportant at a young age, but the body should be respected even during the adolescent years. Smoking habits at a young age can lead to emphysema, destroy a person’s life, and break down one’s entire family. The choices teenagers make can hinder their chances of having a good life filled with prosperity, shalom, and love. It will be very difficult for a person to live a good life that consists of internal peace, if she can barely breathe or take care of herself. In today’s society, a person can still live a healthy life with emphysema even though there is no cure for it. This may be Gods way of showing charity toward his people. Even though people choose to destroy their bodies, the Lord still gives those people ways to help preserve their bodies. It is extremely vital to a teenager’s future to take care of one’s self, which includes avoiding smoking to reduce the chance of getting emphysema.
Health should be a person’s main priority because it is an important factor of a good life. If a person has emphysema, she usually can’t do much for herself. Emphysema is a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, which causes the destruction of a person’s lungs over a period of time. Emphysema is caused by the production of various cells in gas exchanging regions of the lungs, and those cells can form from smoking cigarettes (Walton 162). Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States claiming the lives of more than 120,000 Americans. Emphysema ranks ninth among chronic conditions that contribute to a person’s lack of activity, and 42 percent of people with emphysema report that their daily activities have been limited in some way by their disease. A detrimental disease like emphysema can make a person feel inadequate or inferior to others. It is hard for humans to have peace with God and themselves, if they can barely function or move around.
Since emphysema is the breakdown of a person’s lungs over a drawn out period of time, it is an extremely slow and painful process. Everyday a person loses a piece of her ability to breathe until it ultimately leads to her death. A single cigarette takes about five to twenty minutes off a person’s life. In addition, smokers develop wrinkles, yellow teeth, and lose bone density (Lawton 201).
Marlene Wright was born August 21, 1938 in New York City and began to smoke when she was fifteen. Her mother did not even know she was smoking at the time. She started to feel the effects of her condition approximately five years ago. “I haven’t been sick that long but it feels like forever,” says Wright. She recognized her emphysema worsened after she was terminated from her job and became very idle. She has smoked for at least fifty years and never experienced symptoms of emphysema while she smoked; “I can’t do anything or go anywhere; I can’t breathe,” says Wright. “I can’t even go to the bathroom, or walk from my bed to the telephone without having shortness of breath.” She believes teenagers should not imitate other people and should live their own individual lives. For example, as a kid, she watched Elvis Presley and other people in the spot-light and wanted to do what all the stars of her day were doing, which led to her current chronic disease. “Teenagers should be their own person and never pick up bad habits,” says Wright. “I could have had such a better life, and experienced more joy in my senior years if I took better care of my body as a teenager” (Wright).
It can be hard for a person to experience the beauty of life and all it has to offer if she cannot really go out and explore it due to her condition. As emphysema progresses, a brief walk can be enough to bring on difficulty in breathing (Marqolis 331). When a person watches someone she loves and cares for deeply disintegrate each day her image of the good life and God’s love for her family can blur. Physical ailments, especially ones like emphysema, can break down a person’s ability to take care of herself and make a person bitter. It upsets Wright that she used to be extremely active, and now cannot do anything for herself (Wright).
Normal lungs contain two classes of chemicals with distinctive balances, which are constantly opposing in action. The lungs also have a system of elastic fibers, which allow the lungs to expand and contract. Whenever the chemical balance is deviated, the lungs no longer have the ability to protect themselves against the destruction of these elastic fibers (Marqolis 303). This is exactly what happens in emphysema. In simple terms emphysema is inflation in the lungs and a pathological accumulation of air in tissues or organs. It can be obstructive, which is the over inflation of the lungs associated with partial bronchial obstruction that interferes with exhalation. It can also be pulmonary; a condition of the lung characterized by an abnormal increase in the size of air spaces distal to the terminal bronchioles[1] (Dorland 617-618). All human beings have a terminal bronchiole. When a person has emphysema, she experiences the destruction of the gas-exchange surface of the lungs associated with an increase in the amount of air beyond the terminal bronchiole. The terminal bronchiole is the smallest air passage in which no gas exchange occurs (Walton 166). Emphysema also includes over inflation of structures in the lungs known as alveoli or air sacs.[2] This happens because of a breakdown of the walls of the alveoli, which causes a decrease in respiratory functions, or the way the lungs work. This break down also causes breathlessness.
Eighty two percent of chronic lung disease, including emphysema, is caused by smoking. Emphysema is induced by cigarette smoking because it creates various cells in the gas-exchanging regions of the lungs, particularly in the respiratory bronchioles; these cells produce enzymes that dissolve lung tissue, form dilated spaces, and disrupt the alveolar walls. Smoking obstructs airways, mismatches ventilation, and blocks blood flow from the lungs, which reduces the amount of oxygen present in the blood (Walton 162-66). Also, as air sacs are destroyed the lungs transfer less and less oxygen to the bloodstream, which causes shortness of breath and causes the lungs to lose their elasticity (Marqolis 330).
Emphysema does not develop instantly, but it happens very gradually and takes years of exposure to the irritation of cigarette smoke to develop. Wright said that she was smoking for a long time, but did not experience the symptoms until decades after she began (Wright). Early symptoms of emphysema include shortness of breath and coughing (Marqolis 330). Emphysema symptoms are usually unpredictable and unusual; they often cannot be seen by others and are difficult to explain to others (Lorig 39). Only careful clinical judgment and a high degree of suspicion will lead to an early diagnosis and treatment of emphysema (Sadek 1). The lung’s air sacs are very thin and fragile; any damage done to them is irreversible and leaves permanent holes in the tissue of the lower lungs. Damage to alveoli is permanent, and alveoli that have burst can fuse with one another, causing fewer, larger, and less efficient air sacs (Marqolis 330-31). Ceasing to smoke does not make emphysema better, and the lung destruction never heals (Walton 166).
According to Drug Information for Teens, a recent survey found that 53 percent of high school seniors have smoked cigarettes. Statistics also show that about nine out of ten tobacco users started before they were eighteen years old. Wright started smoking when she was fifteen. “The body is smart and it goes on the defense when it is being poisoned. For this reason, many people find it takes several tries to get started smoking: First time smokers often feel pain or burning in the throat and lungs, and some people feel sick or even throw up the first few times they try tobacco” (Lawton 201). “I gradually began to feel the side effects of smoking, but I tended to ignore them because I was so addicted, says Wright (Wright).
Smoking is common among teens because it contains a powerful drug known as nicotine. Nicotine stimulates feelings of pleasure in the mind and can become addictive. Each day, six thousand children under eighteen years of age smoke their first cigarette, and almost two thousand of them will become regular smokers – that is 757,000 annually. People who begin smoking at an early age are more likely to develop severe levels of nicotine addiction than those who start at a later age; adolescents who have smoked at least a hundred cigarettes in their lifetime report that they would like to quit, but are not able to do so (Lawton 201-9). Wright says, “I have attempted to stop smoking many times but couldn’t. Even when I got extremely sick, I still couldn’t put the cigarette down” (Wright). Many teens like the pleasure and power they feel when they smoke, but they do not realize it contains chemicals that are used in rat poison, bug spray, and contains the same ingredients used to preserve dead frogs.
God continually shows His grace and mercy towards people, because it is still possible to live a healthy life with emphysema. The best way to maintain healthy lungs and stop emphysema from worsening is to stop smoking. A person can also take bronchodilator drugs, which relax and open up air passages in the lungs. Antibiotics may also be helpful to a person experiencing bacterial infection, such as pneumococcal pneumonia (Marqolis 331). A person can also take steroids to relapse or help “acute exacerbations” (Lawton 241). Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) can also make the lungs more effective in oxygenating blood. Lung transplantation is another option, but is also very risky. People that do not have enough oxygen in their blood can participate in oxygen therapy, which administers more oxygen than that given at room temperature.
People have to become self-managers of their chronic illness, and to do that they need to have resources. They have to “know when they need help and how to find help” (Lorig 31). This takes a lot of initiative, requiring a person to evaluate her condition, and realize her own capabilities. There is a strong link between a person’s thoughts, attitudes, and emotions, and her mental and physical health. If a person feels good emotionally, then she will feel good physically. If God, who is the creator of perfect peace is at the center of a person’s thoughts then she should feel physically better. A person has to think positively and she will feel healthier. “It’s not always mind over matter, but mind matters” (Lorig 71).
The key to prevention and treatment is to avoid the things that make it worse; it is important to stay away from smoking, and any type of smoke. Majority of the people diagnosed with emphysema are smokers or are exposed to high levels of smoke and air pollution. If teenagers want to ensure a good life, their school, work, and home environment should all be smoke free. A person should try her best to resist all exposure to air pollution, by checking local radio, television, or newspapers for information about air quality. On days when the ozone or smog levels are unhealthy, a person can reduce their activity during early mornings or evenings. People should maintain overall good health habits, which include proper nutrition, adequate sleep, and regular exercise to build up stamina and resistance to infections (Marqolis 331). It is important for a person to visit a doctor at the first sign of symptoms, because emphysema is a very serious disease that develops over time. One should speak to a doctor at the start of any cold or respiratory infection because infections can make emphysema symptoms worse.
Things such as love, shalom, and moral character are associated with the good life. What is the good life? The good life is when a person can live in shalom with herself and the people in her community. How does health fit into this ideal world of the good life? Health and the way a person treats her body is important in living a good life, because a person cannot have internal shalom if she feels sick all the time. People with emphysema usually feel inadequate or inferior to other people with the full activity of their lungs, which can lead to insecurities or bitterness. When a person has emphysema, she cannot do anything for herself, because breathing is such a struggle. Does that sound like the components of a good life? Marlene Wright believes she could have enjoyed her senior years more, if she didn’t have emphysema. Wright regrets taking advantage of her body during her teenage years, because now she has to suffer the consequences (Wright).
Despite the wrong people do, God still loves and cares for them, and always shows grace and mercy. C.S. Lewis describes this grace as charity in his book The Four Loves. Even though people habitually destroy their bodies by smoking, God still provides a way to live a healthy life with emphysema. This can be Gods way of “loving the unlovable” (Lewis 128). God has granted advancements in technology that help others live full and healthy lives with emphysema. There are many surgeries and antibiotics available in present day society that can help a person manage her emphysema.
Taken together, health is a very important factor of the good life. When a person is healthy, she has more internal peace, because she feels more empowered and capable. Teenagers need to take care of their bodies, so they do not ruin their chances of a potential good life. Emphysema is more than a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease; it is an extreme hindrance in one’s pursuit of a good life. Wright says, “I use to love to dance and bowl; those are things I will never be able to do again.” People choose to smoke as adolescents because they do not realize how it will affect them during their senior years. It is important that teenagers take the necessary precautions to prevent any future diagnosis of emphysema. Due to the grace of God, and His charity toward humanity, many people can still live full lives with emphysema. There are many antibiotics, prescription medications, surgeries, and therapeutic techniques that can help a person with emphysema live a full life. “I may not be living the life I want to live, but at least I’m still living and able to experience the little joys in life,” says Wright. Teenagers should take care of their bodies, because their today determines their tomorrow.
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