IStock Photo 8533767 © Dan Brandenburg

Emphysema contributed to the deaths of poet T.S. Eliot, artist Norman Rockwell, TV personality Johnny Carson, and composer Leonard Bernstein. Like many victims of emphysema, they had one major thing in common: smoking. The odds an adult smokes cigarettes are 1 in 5.08, and the odds an adult has emphysema are 1 in 59.74.

According to his October 1990 obituary in The New York Times, Bernstein was “a heavy smoker for most of his life.” Carson—who always seemed to have a cigarette close by while hosting The Tonight Show—was never able to kick the habit.

Emphysema is an irreversible lung disease. It is classified as a type of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a group of illnesses that cause progressive lung damage. Other types of COPD include asthma and chronic bronchitis. About 12 million people in the United States suffer from COPD, 3 million of whom have emphysema. The lungs' air sacs, alveoli, become damaged in sufferers of emphysema, making it hard to breathe properly. Due to these breathing difficulties, people with emphysema are often referred to as “pink puffers” in medical literature because they sometimes develop a reddish complexion.

The odds of having emphysema increase as income decreases. The odds an adult with a family income of $100,000 or more has emphysema are 1 in 322.1. For an adult with a family income of $50,000-$74,999, the odds increase to 1 in 71.03. And for an adult with a family income less than $35,000, the odds of having emphysema increase even more: 1 in 32.32. Gender also makes a difference: the odds a man has emphysema are 1 in 53.39, but the odds a woman has emphysema are 1 in 67.19.

Emphysema cannot be cured, but various treatments can help alleviate symptoms. And if the disease is diagnosed early enough, further damage to the lungs can be prevented, especially if the patient quits smoking. With some treatment and a good deal of perseverance, many people with emphysema are able to lead somewhat normal lives. Jazz saxophonist Phil Woods, for example, is “still bopping” despite his emphysema, according to an in Jazz Times. “I sleep with oxygen—I have to rent a machine wherever I go. After a night with it, I'm good to go,” Woods told the the magazine.