The 78-year-old filmmaker, a former heavy smoker, suffers from emphysema, a lung disease that affects more than three million people in the United States.
- American filmmaker David Lynch, 78, has revealed that he suffers from emphysema, a disease that causes the destruction of the air sacs in the lungs and leads to rapid shortness of breath.
- Emphysema can take years to develop. Early signs include excess mucus, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. While there is no cure for the condition, some medications can help relieve symptoms.
- But one of the first forms of treatment is smoking cessation. David Lynch also points out that he stopped smoking two years ago and that, apart from the emphysema, he is in “excellent shape” given the “numerous tests” he has recently undergone.
The American director is “confined to home, that this [lui] like it or not”, and cannot walk long distances “without running out of oxygen.” In an interview with the British magazine Sight and Sound due out in September, David Lynch, 78, revealed that he suffers from emphysema, a disease that causes the destruction of the air sacs in the lungs and causes rapid shortness of breath.
Emphysema, a chronic lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe
The director of cult films and series (Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks…) confirmed his diagnosis in a publication on social network X. “Yes, I have emphysema from many years of smoking, he wrote. I have to say that I really enjoyed smoking, and I love tobacco. […] but there is a price to pay for this pleasure and, as far as I am concerned, it is emphysema.”
According to the American Lung Association (ALA), more than three million Americans live with emphysema, a chronic lung disorder in which the air sacs in the lungs fuse together. “The disease causes damage to lung tissue and the alveoli, the tiny air sacs [qui permettent les échanges gazeux lors de la respiration]Over time, this damage causes the alveoli to be destroyed, creating large air pockets instead of small ones. explains the ALA in a press release. When the air sacs rupture, the large air pockets trap air in the damaged tissue, preventing oxygen from moving easily into the bloodstream.” As a result, breathing becomes difficult and the body struggles to stay oxygenated, which ultimately tires the heart and can lead to heart failure.
Smoking cessation as the main treatment for emphysema
Emphysema, which is mainly linked to smoking but also to air pollution, can take years to develop. Two-thirds of those affected are men. The first signs are excess mucus, shortness of breath and chest tightness. While there is no cure for the condition, some medications can help relieve symptoms. But one of the first forms of treatment is smoking cessation, according to the ALA.
Wanting to be reassuring, David Lynch also specifies in his message that he stopped smoking two years ago and that, apart from emphysema, he is in “excellent shape” in view of the “numerous examinations” that he recently passed. “I am filled with happiness, and I will never retire”he concluded.
