COPD Meaning
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD is a lung disease that makes it difficult to breath. COPD is a long term disease that often get worse overtime, and it is characterize by inflammation and sever limitation of airflow in and out of the lungs. COPD is an umbrella term use to describe a group of breathing conditions the most common being chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Many people living with COPD may have both emphysema and cronic bronchitis, a few people have both ashma and COPD.
Causes of COPD
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of COPD, long term exposure to secondhand smoke or irritants such as air pollutions, dust or workplace fumes and biomass exposure such as wood smoke can also contribute to COPD. Uncommon generics disorder called the alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency is sometimes associated with COPD. Although respiratory infections such as influenza and pheumonia do not cause COPD, however they can make people with COPD very sick. There for it is very important to keep this vaccination up to date.
Symptoms of COPD
At first COPD may cause no symptoms or only mild symptoms, as the disease progresses common symptoms includes shortness of breath, wheezing and chest tightness specially with exercise and an ongoing cough often with a lot of mucus, as COPD symptoms becomes worsen breathing requires much more energy and can get harder to exercise and to do routine activities like getting dress or climbing stairs, this may lead to fatigue, weight loss and muscle loss. People with COPD can experience a variety of symptoms, different stages of COPD range from mild to moderate to severe.
A normal functioning lungs when air is inhaled it travels down the wind pipe and then to the airways or bronchial tubes of the lungs.Inside the lungs the airways branch out into the smaller and smaller called bronchiole that are rich in blood supply, at the end of this tube are billions of tiny air sacs called the alveoli. Normally the walls of the air ways and the air sacs are flexible and elastic in nature, inhaling causes each air sacs to fill with air, exhaling causes each air sacs to deflate. Efficient up take of the air in the lung provides oxygen to the blood which then to all parts of the body.
In COPD however, the airways become thick and inflamed and they produce mucos than usual, this mucos can clog the air ways and make it hard to breath. In COPD, the walls of the airsacs in the lungs are damage and lose their elastic quality, the airsac get flappy, broken and lose their shape. As the air spaces gets larger, the air gets trap and there are fewer airsac to supply oxygen to the blood because air is traps in this airsacs it is difficult for the lungs with COPD to deflate like normal lungs this trap air makes harder to get fresh air to the lungs and makes breathing more difficult.
How to Prevent and Treatment COPD?
COPD is the 3rd leading cause of death in United States and affects more than 13.5 million americans. It is predominantly diagnosed in middle age individuals older than 40 years and its present in both women and men. Although COPD is more common in men, more women die from this disease each year than men. The rate of COPD increase worldwide due to smoking and worsening air pollution. While there is no cure for COPD, you can steps to feel better, stay more active and slow disease progression. COPD can be manage by consulting early with your health care provide, seeking diagnosis and invention therapies, and adopting lifestyle changes that includes quitting smoking, pulmonary rehabilitation, healthy diet and exercise, and maintaining a positive outlook.
