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Summary

What is COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary illness)?

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary affliction) is a grouping of lung diseases that get in hard to breathe and become worse over fourth dimension.

Normally, the airways and air sacs in your lungs are rubberband or stretchy. When yous breathe in, the airways bring air to the air sacs. The air sacs fill up with air, like a small airship. When yous breathe out, the air sacs debunk, and the air goes out. If you have COPD, less air flows in and out of your airways because of one or more than issues:

• The airways and air sacs in your lungs become less rubberband
• The walls between many of the air sacs are destroyed
• The walls of the airways go thick and inflamed
• The airways make more mucus than usual and can go clogged

What are the types of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary affliction)?

COPD includes ii main types:

• Emphysema affects the air sacs in your lungs, as well as the walls between them. They become damaged and are less elastic.
• Chronic bronchitis, in which the lining of your airways is constantly irritated and inflamed. This causes the lining to slap-up and make fungus.

Most people with COPD accept both emphysema and chronic bronchitis, simply how severe each type is tin exist different from person to person.

What causes COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)?

The cause of COPD is usually long-term exposure to irritants that damage your lungs and airways. In the United states, cigarette smoke is the main cause. Pipe, cigar, and other types of tobacco fume tin can as well crusade COPD, especially if you inhale them.

Exposure to other inhaled irritants can contribute to COPD. These include secondhand fume, air pollution, and chemical fumes or dusts from the environment or workplace.

Rarely, a genetic condition called blastoff-1 antitrypsin deficiency can play a role in causing COPD.

Who is at take a chance for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary illness)?

The risk factors for COPD include:

• Smoking. This the principal run a risk factor. Up to 75% of people who have COPD smoke or used to smoke.
• Long-term exposure to other lung irritants, such as secondhand fume, air pollution, and chemical fumes and dusts from the surround or workplace
• Age. Nigh people who take COPD are at least 40 years old when their symptoms brainstorm.
• Genetics. This includes alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, which is a genetic condition. Likewise, smokers who get COPD are more likely to become information technology if they have a family history of COPD.
• Asthma. People who accept asthma have more take a chance of developing COPD than people who don't have asthma. But most people with asthma will non get COPD.

What are the symptoms of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)?

At first, you lot may have no symptoms or merely balmy symptoms. As the disease gets worse, your symptoms usually become more severe. They tin include:

• Frequent cough or a cough that produces a lot mucus
• Wheezing
• A whistling or squeaky sound when y'all breathe
• Shortness of breath, particularly with concrete activity
• Tightness in your chest

Some people with COPD become frequent respiratory infections such as colds and the flu. In astringent cases, COPD can cause weight loss, weakness in your lower muscles, and swelling in your ankles, feet, or legs.

How is COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary illness) diagnosed?

Your health intendance provider may use many tools to brand a diagnosis:

• A medical history, which includes request nigh your symptoms
• A family history
• Diverse tests, such as lung function tests, a chest x-ray or CT scan, and blood tests

Your doctor will diagnose COPD based on your signs and symptoms, your medical and family histories, and exam results.

What are the treatments for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)?

There is no cure for COPD. However, treatments can assistance with symptoms, boring the progress of the disease, and amend your power to stay agile. There are also treatments to preclude or treat complications of the disease. Treatments include:

• Lifestyle changes, such as
  • Quitting smoking if you lot are a smoker. This is the virtually important step you can take to care for COPD.
  • Avoiding secondhand smoke and places where y'all might exhale in other lung irritants
  • Enquire your wellness care provider for an eating plan that volition meet your nutritional needs. Also ask about how much physical activeness yous can do. Physical activity can strengthen the muscles that help you exhale and improve your overall wellness.
• Medicines, such as
  • Bronchodilators, which relax the muscles around your airways. This helps open your airways and makes breathing easier. Most bronchodilators are taken through an inhaler. In more than severe cases, the inhaler may besides comprise steroids to reduce inflammation.
  • Vaccines for the flu and pneumococcal pneumonia, since people with COPD are at college risk for serious bug from these diseases
  • Antibiotics if you get a bacterial or viral lung infection
• Oxygen therapy, if you take severe COPD and low levels of oxygen in your claret. Oxygen therapy can help y'all breathe ameliorate. You may need extra oxygen all the time or only at certain times.
• Pulmonary rehabilitation, which is a program that helps improve the well-existence of people who have chronic breathing problems. It may include
  • An practice program
  • Disease management grooming
  • Nutritional counseling
  • Psychological counseling
• Surgery, ordinarily equally a terminal resort for people who take astringent symptoms that have non gotten ameliorate with medicines:
  • For COPD that is mainly related to emphysema, there are surgeries that
    • Remove damaged lung tissue
    • Remove large air spaces (bullae) that can form when air sacs are destroyed. The bullae can interfere with animate.
  • For severe COPD, some people may need lung transplant

If you have COPD, it's important to know when and where to become help for your symptoms. You should get emergency intendance if you have astringent symptoms, such as trouble catching your breath or talking. Call your health care provider if your symptoms are getting worse or if you have signs of an infection, such as a fever.

Can COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) be prevented?

Since smoking causes about cases of COPD, the best way to prevent information technology is to not smoke. Information technology's as well important to try to avoid lung irritants such as secondhand fume, air pollution, chemical fumes, and dusts.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Claret Constitute

Start Here

• COPD Medications (National Jewish Wellness)
• Managing Your COPD Medications (American Lung Association)
• Medicines for COPD (American Thoracic Social club) - PDF
• Surgery for COPD (American Lung Clan)

• Asthma and COPD: Differences and Similarities (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology)
• Marvels of Mucus and Phlegm: The Slime That Keeps You lot Healthy (National Institutes of Health) Besides in Castilian
• Slumber Bug in Asthma and COPD (American Thoracic Society) - PDF Also in Spanish
• Traveling with Portable Oxygen (American College of Chest Physicians) - PDF

• How the Lungs Work (National Middle, Lung, and Claret Institute) Also in Castilian

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease COPD (Section of Wellness and Human Services, Office on Women'southward Wellness)

• COPD: Unique to Older Adults (AGS Foundation for Wellness in Aging)

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Source: https://medlineplus.gov/copd.html

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