What Is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)?

A group of progressive lung diseases is known as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). COPD is gaining more attention in the medical research field nowadays because the number of people affected by the condition is increasing day by day. As estimated a large number of people around thirty million in the country have become the victim of COPD. But most of them are unaware of the symptoms. Chronic bronchitis and Emphysema are examples of some lung diseases that are included in COPD. But in most cases the affected people have both. 

Here, emphysema is identified as a lung disease that interferes with your blood flow in capillaries of lungs and destroy your air sacs present in sacs while bronchitis is characterized as a lung disease in which mucus is built up in your airways leading to narrowing of bronchial tubes. It also causes inflammation in  bronchi. These diseases can be treated but if left untreated, they lead to other serious health conditions, including respiratory infections and cardiovascular diseases.

This article will help you understand everything about Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, including its symptoms, causes, and treatment.

Symptoms of COPD

The most common sign of COPD is the shortness of breath. This disease makes breathing harder. The difficulty in breathing may be mild and bearable at first but with the progression of disease the symptoms get worse. Ultimately, breathing becomes impossible. 

In addition, tightness in chest, congestion of airways due to excess of saliva and mucus and wheezing sound during cough or breath are also alarming signs of the condition. Severe symptoms include flare ups leading to acute exacerbation. 

However, healthcare providers distinguish the symptoms by their category, if it is an early sign or a worsening symptom.

Early Symptoms

Symptoms of COPD are mild initially. Therefore, people take them non-serious and treat them as cold or flu symptoms. These symptoms include:

• Recurrent but mild cough.
• Shortness of breath after a strenuous workout.
• In the morning, you need to clear your throat of mucus.

If you’re becoming habitual of skipping physical activities or avoiding stairs to avoid shortness of breath, you’re more likely to develop COPD. An emergency checkup is needed.

Last Stage Symptoms

As the disease progresses, the symptoms also get worse over time. Now, they can’t be ignored because they have damaged your lungs to a great extent. Now you may feel:

• Severe shortness of breath even after simple walking.
• Tightness in chest.
• Dizziness.
• Lack of energy.
• Recurrent cough, cold and flu.
• Noisy breathing with wheezing sound.
• Cough with mucus.
• Accumulation of mucus in your lungs and airways.

Last stage symptoms also include:

• Abrupt weight loss.
• Increased fatigue.
• Swelling of legs, ankles and feet.

Vaping, drinking alcohol or smoking can make the symptoms worsen and untreatable.

The Stages of COPD

Severity of COPD is measured through a grading system. Although there are many grading systems, according to medical research, the most authentic is the GOLD classification system. This system helps determine the severity and best treatment option for COPD.

According to spirometry testing, GOLD classification categorizes COPD into four grades, including:

• Grade 1: Mild.
• Grade 2: Moderate.
• Grade 3: Severe.
• Grade 4: Intense.

The spirometry test is based on your FEV1. That is actually the measurement of the amount of air you are breathing out in the first second of exhalation. Lower readings of FEV1 shows the intense severity of symptoms. The GOLD classification also looks for the history of acute exacerbation and your early symptoms.

Complications related to COPD increase as the disease progresses. You may experience:

• Anxiety and depression.
• Cardiac issues.
• Recurrent flu, cold, Pneumonia and other respiratory disorders.
• High blood pressure.
• Lung cancer.

Causes of COPD

The risk of COPD increases in the people who are habitual of smoking. Smoking or use of tobacco products increase the risk of getting affected by the condition many fold. According to an estimation, most of the people having COPD belong to the age 40 to 60. This means the condition attacks on elderly people whose lungs are already unhealthy. But if they are subjected to pipe smoke, cigarette smoke, sugar smoke or secondhand smoke, the risk of getting affected with COPD increases. Asthma is another prevailing cause of COPD. It increases the risk of condition.

Rare Causes

No doubt COPD can make you its victim if you smoke frequently or for longer. But along this cause, there are also some rare causes that are mostly ignored. 

If you’re often exposed to fumes and chemicals at your workplace or house, you can develop symptoms of the disease. People who are exposed to polluted air or dust for a long time, also develop the symptoms. 

In addition, poorly ventilated homes cause exposure to fumes and smoke produced due to cooking or heating fuels. This can lead to COPD.

According to genetic study, a genetic mutation known as Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency can also cause the condition.

Diagnosis of COPD

COPD cannot be diagnosed through a single test. Healthcare providers may suggest you a series of physical exams and diagnostic tests to diagnose the disease. These tests are based on the symptoms. On your first visit to the clinic, your healthcare provider will demand for a list of symptoms you had been experiencing for the last six months. They may ask the time and duration of occurrence of symptoms. Some things that you should tell your doctor at any cost include:

• If you smoke or were subjected to smoke in the past.
• Took over-the-counter medications to relieve the symptoms.
• Had exposure to fumes or pollutant air at your workplace.
• Had a family history of COPD.
• Had any respiratory infection or asthma.
• Had been exposed to secondhand smoke.

Tests for Diagnosis

Your healthcare provider uses a stethoscope to listen to your breathing pattern, at first. This is the first physical exam. The next test may be based on this examination. Healthcare providers suggest you have more tests to get a clear picture of your pulmonary tract. The tests may include:

Pulmonary Function Testing: Spirometry is the example of this type of test. Through this tt, they assess the volume of your lungs and their diffusing capacity. Sometimes the tests are noninvasive that help assess your overall lungs health. During the test, you have to take a deep breath and b;ow into a tube that is connected to a device, known as a spirometer.

Imaging Tests: A chest X-ray or CT scan can be suggested to take a clear internal picture of your lugs. The images will help study your lungs, heart and blood vessels in detail. 

Arterial Blood Gas Test: In this test, a small sample of your blood is taken from an artery and measured the amount of different solvents in it, such as carbon dioxide, oxygen and other gases.

Through this testing procedure, the doctor become able to identify if you’re a age affected by COPD or other respiratory infection like asthma or pneumonia, heart failure or restrictive lung disease.

Medications for COPD

Certain medications for COPD help relieve symptoms and lower the risk of disease progression. The most important thing is to take a proper guideline before using the medication because medicines taking in the wrong dosage can reverse the results. Just trial and error method is the way to identify the dosage that may work best for you. 

Common medications for COPD include:

Antivirals and Antibiotics: Certain respiratory infections can be cured only with some prescribed antiviral or antibiotics. They help you lessen the severity of symptoms.

Phosphodiesterase-4 Inhibitors: These medications are used to relax your airways so that your inflammation can be reduced. Researchers of Health Departments suggested that these medications are more effective than other treatment options, such as use of inhaled corticosteroids and bronchodilators. 

Theophyline: These are used in the form of pills to ease the shortness of breath and lessen the chest tightness. 

In addition, theophyllines also help in relieving flare-ups after relaxing your airway muscles. However, doctors do not consider it the best option. Therefore, it is not used as a first-line treatment option during COPD treatment.

Inhaled Bronchodilatorts: Bronchodilators are used to relax the airways muscles that are in tight form. They not only loosen the tight muscles but also help relieve shortness of breath. These medications are used through nebulizer and stay effective for 6 to 8 hours. But you can’t use them as a constant treatment option. You can nabulise yourself when needed. Sometimes, doctors suggest to use its long-acting versions because their effect stays for 12 hours a day. 

According to studies, COPD causes trouble breathing during excuses. Therefore, they recommend long-acting beta-agonists combined with a long-acting muscarinic antagonist. This combination is considered the most effective for relieving shortness of breath during exercise. 

Moreover, Inhaled bronchodilators widen the airway tubes and help clear the mucus present in these tubes. In this way the air passage gets cleaned. These two medications are taken in with the help of nebulizer or inhaler.

Recommended combination of LABA and LAMA bronchodilator, include:

• Aclidinium and formoterol.
• Glycopyrrolate and formoterol.
• Tiotropium and olodaterol.
• Umeclidinium and vilanterol.

Corticosteroids: Although GOLD guidelines do not support the use of inhaled corticosteroids, it is a fact that the long-acting glucocorticoids help minimize the risk of COPD. Doctors recommend that these should be used in minimum quantities for a short period of time, only for those who have frequent exacerbation and severe symptoms.

Glucocorticoids are good for cleaning mucus accumulated in your air passage and also reduce inflammation in airways. These medications help relax muscles in your air passage and make the air ways wider. Theories are used in pill form. 

However, doctors usually prescribe them only for the people suffering from chronic bronchitis.

Emergency Treatment

Sometimes, COPD symptoms get worse and you may get stuck into a dangerous zone. In such a situation, you need emergency treatment. Go and get quick medical assistance, if:

• Your heart is racing.
• You can’t talk due to trouble catching your breath.
• You experience confusion and irritation after strenuous work.
• You have low levels of oxygen, identified with your bluish lips or fingernails.

Diet Recommendations for COPD Patients

If you’re a COPD sufferer, you need a healthy and well-balanced diet. A healthy diet is not only necessary for maintaining your health but it also helps prevent several health complications including respiratory infections. 

The most important thing to focus while fighting off COPD is your diet. You should add all essential nutrients to your daily diet,including:

• Protein.
• Whole grains.
• Fruits.
• Dairy products.
• Fresh vegetables.

Avoiding junior processed food is also necessary to relieve the symptoms. Salt intake must be limited as salt retains water in your body. Excessive amounts of water cause trouble breathing.

Connection between COPD and Lung Cancer

Yes, COPD shares a connection with lung cancer. Because both disorders have multiple common risk factors and causes. The top most risk factor for COPD and lung cancer is smoking, whether it is direct or secondhand smoking. Both the diseases get worse after exposure with fumes , polluted air or other chemicals. 

In addition, both diseases are more likely to affect the older people. Its risk increases with age. 

Therefore, people often learn they have COPD when they go for diagnosis of lung cancer. but having COPD doesn’t mean that it must lead to lung cancer. However, it means that you are at higher risk of developing lung cancer. That’s why doctors suggest that is the first step to protect yourself from COPD and lung cancer.

Conclusion

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the alarming sign for lung cancer. It is not a fatal disease but when you don’t treat it with care, its symptoms convert to worse form and often leads to lung cancer. It isa collection of several lung diseases. Thus it is good to keep an eye on your lung health.

Studies show that people who don’t smoke have increased in their life expectancy while people parole used to smoke have low life expectancy. But your life expectancy also depends on some other factors including your lung health.

If you’re diagnosed with COPD, it must be your habit for the next life to visit your doctor with regular intervals. So that they may take steps to manage the COPD symptoms with best treatment options. You can also reduce the severity and frequency of symptoms by introducing some lifestyle changes.

Proper treatment and lifestyle changes ultimately result in managing the early symptoms of COPD. that can help you live a high quality life.