Final answer:
Emphysema, often caused by smoking, is characterized by the destruction of alveoli walls, which reduces the alveolar surface area and impairs gas exchange in the lungs.
Step-by-step explanation:
The disease characterized by loss of alveolar surface area is emphysema. Emphysema is a chronic lung condition often caused by smoking. This condition leads to the destruction of the walls of the alveoli in the lungs, hence reducing the surface area available for gas exchange. Damage to the alveoli in emphysema is irreversible, and the condition is one of the diseases grouped under chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition to reducing alveoli surface area, emphysema reduces the number and elasticity of alveoli, causing air to become trapped in the lungs, hampering gas exchange, and leading to difficulty in breathing.
Emphysema is the disease characterized by the loss of alveolar surface area. Emphysema occurs mostly due to smoking tobacco, which leads to the destruction of the walls of the alveoli, decreasing the surface area for gas exchange. This results in a decrease in lung elastic recoil and an increase in air trapped in the lungs at the end of exhalation.