Hello Rana, Thanks for posting, According to the Chest X-ray PA report, your wife is suffering from mild emphysema. Emphysema (which involves destruction of the lungs over time) is a form of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases which can result in shortness of breath/difficulty breathing/suffocation. Another form that usually occurs with the emphysema is chronic bronchitis. Both of which are strongly associated with smoking. Since you mentioned that your wife does not smoke, it is very unlikely that smoking is the cause, but do not forget that she could be a secondary smoker (inhaler smoke constantly from a close smoker) and this could result in the condition. How ever, in rare cases, nonsmokers who lack a protein called alpha-1 antitrypsin can develop emphysema and other risk factors for COPD are: - Exposure to certain gases or fumes in the workplace - Exposure to heavy amounts of secondhand smoke and pollution - Frequent use of cooking fire without proper ventilation Now lets look at how to manage your wife s condition. The best test for COPD is a lung function test called spirometry. There is no cure for COPD. However, there are many things you can do to relieve symptoms and keep the disease from getting worse. Your wife MUST avoid being contaminated with secondhand smoking or fumes or pollutants. This is the best way to slow down the lung damage. She must ventilate her home environment (especially the kitchen). Some medications used to treat COPD include: - Inhalers (bronchodilators) to open the airways, such as ipratropium (Atrovent), tiotropium (Spiriva), salmeterol (Serevent), formoterol (Foradil), or albuterol - Inhaled steroids to reduce lung inflammation - Anti-inflammatory medications such as montelukast (Singulair) and roflimulast are sometimes used. If there are flare ups or attacks please visit the closest ER for emergency management. Signs of lung infection must be checked by your wife s doctor and if any infection, it should be treated accordingly with antibiotics. Hope this helps