Smoking can cause emphysema, a disease of the lungs that causes shortness of breath.
Emphysema comes from the Greek emphusan meaning "puff up." Emphasyma is a long-term disease that destroys the shape and function of the lungs. Some symptoms include a shortness of breath and an expanded or puffed up chest. Most people who have emphysema were smokers at some point in their lives, but it can also be caused by chronic bronchitis.
