“I foolishly had assumed that everyone had at least a rudimentary knowledge of physiology,” Stough wrote in his autobiography, Dr. Breath. “Even more foolishly I had assumed that a universal awareness of the importance of breathing existed. Nothing could have been farther from the truth.” Emphysema is a gradual deterioration of lung tissue marked by chronic bronchitis and coughing. The lungs become so damaged that people with the disease can no longer absorb oxygen effectively.
