What is COPD in medical terms?
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, refers to a group of diseases that cause airflow blockage and breathing-related problems. It includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
How to treat COPD?
Treatment of COPD requires a careful and thorough evaluation by a physician. 3, 13 COPD treatment can alleviate symptoms, decrease the frequency and severity of exacerbations, and increase exercise tolerance. Treatment options that your physician may consider include: 1 Quit smoking. For people who smoke, the most important part of treatment is smoking cessation. 2 Avoid tobacco smoke and other air pollutants at home and at work. 3 Ask your doctor about pulmonary rehabilitation, which is a personalized treatment program that teaches COPD management strategies to improve quality of life. Programs may include plans that teach people how to breathe better and conserve their energy, as well as provide advice on food and exercise. 4 Take medication. Symptoms such as coughing or wheezing can be treated with medication. 5 Avoid lung infections. Lung infections can cause serious problems in people with COPD. Certain vaccines, such as flu and pneumococcal vaccines, are especially important for people with COPD. Learn more about vaccination recommendations. Respiratory infections should be treated with antibiotics, if appropriate. 6 Use supplemental oxygen. Some people may need to use a portable oxygen tank if their blood oxygen levels are low.
How many people died from COPD in 2018?
Who has COPD? Chronic lower respiratory disease, primarily COPD, was the fourth leading cause of death in the United States in 2018. 1 Almost 15.7 million Americans (6.4%) reported that they have been diagnosed with COPD. 2 More than 50% of adults with low pulmonary function were not aware that they had COPD, 3 so the actual number may be higher.
What is the best treatment for COPD?
Avoid tobacco smoke and other air pollutants at home and at work. Ask your doctor about pulmonary rehabilitation, which is a personalized treatment program that teaches COPD management strategies to improve quality of life.
What to do for respiratory infection?
Respiratory infections should be treated with antibiotics, if appropriate. Use supplemental oxygen. Some people may need to use a portable oxygen tank if their blood oxygen levels are low. To learn more about COPD, visit the Resources page.
What are the best ways to prevent COPD?
Avoid lung infections. Lung infections can cause serious problems in people with COPD. Certain vaccines, such as flu and pneumococcal vaccines, are especially important for people with COPD. Learn more about vaccination recommendations. Respiratory infections should be treated with antibiotics, if appropriate.
Can smoking cause COPD?
For example, tobacco smoke is the main cause of COPD in the United States, but women who smoke tend to get COPD at younger ages and with lower levels of smoking than men who smoke. There also appear to be differences in how women and men respond to different treatments.
How to prevent COPD?
In certain situations, COPD may be preventable. There are several opportunities for prevention. Some of the most important are: 1 If you are a smoker, quit. Approximately 75% of COPD deaths are attributed to cigarette smoking. 2 Avoid exposure to air pollutants in the home and workplace. 3 Get vaccinated during flu season if you have COPD to reduce the risk of flare-ups.
What are the symptoms of COPD?
Symptoms include chronic or smoker’s cough, chronic phlegm production, shortness of breath, and wheezing. Early detection and treatment may change its course. A breathing test can measure lung function and detect COPD in those at risk.
How many people die from COPD each year?
COPD refers to a group of diseases that cause airflow blockage and breathing-related problems. COPD affects more than 15 million Americans. More than 140,000 Americans die of COPD each year – that is 1 death every 4 minutes!
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What causes COPD?
People with COPD are at increased risk of developing heart disease, lung cancer and a variety of other conditions.
What are the two most common conditions that contribute to COPD?
Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are the two most common conditions that contribute to COPD. These two conditions usually occur together and can vary in severity among individuals with COPD. Chronic bronchitis is inflammation of the lining of the bronchial tubes, which carry air to and from the air sacs (alveoli) of the lungs.
What is COPD in a lung?
Overview. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed airflow from the lungs. Symptoms include breathing difficulty, cough, mucus (sputum) production and wheezing. It's typically caused by long-term exposure to irritating gases or particulate matter, most often from cigarette smoke.
What is the main cause of COPD in developed countries?
The main cause of COPD in developed countries is tobacco smoking. In the developing world, COPD often occurs in people exposed to fumes from burning fuel for cooking and heating in poorly ventilated homes.
How does air travel through the lungs?
Air travels down your windpipe (trachea) and into your lungs through two large tubes (bronchi). Inside your lungs, these tubes divide many times — like the branches of a tree — into many smaller tubes (bronchioles) that end in clusters of tiny air sacs (alveoli).
What is the term for a person who loses weight in later stages of COPD?
Unintended weight loss (in later stages) Swelling in ankles, feet or legs. People with COPD are also likely to experience episodes called exacerbations, during which their symptoms become worse than the usual day-to-day variation and persist for at least several days.
What is the gas that is exhaled in the air sac?
The oxygen in the air you inhale passes into these blood vessels and enters your bloodstream. At the same time, carbon dioxide — a gas that is a waste product of metabolism — is exhaled.
What are the causes of COPD?
What you breathe every day at work, home and outside can play a role in developing COPD. Long-term exposure to air pollution, secondhand smoke and dust, fumes and chemicals ( which are often work-related) can cause COPD.
How does smoking affect COPD?
When a cigarette burns, it creates more than 7,000 chemicals, many of which are harmful. The toxins in cigarette smoke weaken your lungs' defense against infections, narrow air passages, cause swelling in air tubes and destroy air sacs—all contributing factors for COPD.
How many times more likely are smokers to die from COPD than men?
Female smokers are nearly 13 times as likely to die from COPD as women who have never smoked; male smokers are nearly 12 times as likely to die from COPD as men who have never smoked. Other risk factors for COPD include: Exposure to air pollution. Breathing secondhand smoke. Working with chemicals, dust and fumes.
What is the rarest form of COPD?
Alpha-1 Deficiency. A small number of people have a rare form of COPD called alpha-1 deficiency-related emphysema. This form of COPD is caused by a genetic (inherited) condition that affects the body's ability to produce a protein (Alpha-1) that protects the lungs.
How to protect yourself from a smog?
Take care to protect yourself against chemicals, dust and fumes in your home and at work. Help fight for clean air. Work with others in your community to help clean up the air you and your family breathe.
Can smoking cause COPD?
Over time, exposure to irritants that damage your lungs and airways can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The main cause of COPD is smoking, but nonsmokers can get COPD too.
Overview
Symptoms
- COPDsymptoms often don't appear until significant lung damage has occurred, and they usually worsen over time, particularly if smoking exposure continues. Signs and symptoms of COPDmay include: 1. Shortness of breath, especially during physical activities 2. Wheezing 3. Chest tightness 4. A chronic cough that may produce mucus (sputum) that may be clear, white, yellow …
Causes
- The main cause of COPD in developed countries is tobacco smoking. In the developing world, COPDoften occurs in people exposed to fumes from burning fuel for cooking and heating in poorly ventilated homes. Only some chronic smokers develop clinically apparent COPD, although many smokers with long smoking histories may develop reduced lung function. ...
Risk Factors
- Risk factors for COPDinclude: 1. Exposure to tobacco smoke. The most significant risk factor for COPDis long-term cigarette smoking. The more years you smoke and the more packs you smoke, the greater your risk. Pipe smokers, cigar smokers and marijuana smokers also may be at risk, as well as people exposed to large amounts of secondhand smoke. 2. People with asthma. Asthma…
Complications
- COPDcan cause many complications, including: 1. Respiratory infections. People with COPDare more likely to catch colds, the flu and pneumonia. Any respiratory infection can make it much more difficult to breathe and could cause further damage to lung tissue. 2. Heart problems. For reasons that aren't fully understood, COPDcan increase your risk of heart disease, including hear…
Prevention
- Unlike some diseases, COPD typically has a clear cause and a clear path of prevention, and there are ways to slow the progression of the disease. The majority of cases are directly related to cigarette smoking, and the best way to prevent COPDis to never smoke — or to stop smoking now. If you're a longtime smoker, these simple statements may not seem so simple, especially if you'v…