What is the best thing to do to help yourself if you have emphysema?

Quit smoking: By far the most important thing is to quit smoking. Beyond that there are several medications that can help with quality of life as well as going through pulmonary rehab. In any case, all patients with emphysema should see a doctor who can see where they are and prescribe approp treatments (even aids to quit smoking!).

Stop smoking: The two things that we know work well in emphysema are to quit smoking and to wear your oxygen is you need it. If you work in a job that exposes you to smoke, rock dust, wood dust, etc consider another line of work or wear respiratory protection.