Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) is a chronic and progressive disease of the lungs. Specifically, it occurs in the alveoli—the tiny clusters of sacs at the end of the bronchioles. The alveoli are where oxygen passes into the blood and carbon dioxide passes out. COPD means less air flows through alveoli because of damage.
This damage might consist of lessened elasticity, preventing the alveoli from expanding as much as they would in healthy lungs; damaged alveoli walls; thickened or inflamed alveoli walls; or clogged alveoli, brought on by an excess of mucus. This results in coughing, wheezing, producing excessive sputum, difficulty breathing, and a tightness in the chest.
Emphysema, on the other hand, is one of a few different types of COPD, characterized symptomatically by difficult breathing. In emphysema, alveoli walls become so weak they eventually rupture or burst. One large air sac forms, instead of a group of small ones. The result is a decreased amount of surface area for capillaries to pass oxygen and carbon dioxide in and out of the body, which means less oxygen coming into the bloodstream.
Like COPD, emphysema’s leading cause is cigarette smoking (although frequent inhalation of other harmful substances in the air, like dust or chemicals, can also contribute to COPDs).
Common COPD Symptoms
A cough associated with COPD occur most in the morning after awakening. The seasonal course of a cough in the fall and winter more than in spring and summer. Another symptom of this disease is expectoration of sputum. It can be a guide to the disease if you do the analysis of the quality of sputum, such as if the sputum is usually somewhat brown in the morning and gets coughed up relatively easily. Also, blood may occur in the sputum of a COPD patient. Exertional dyspnea might appear while exercising. The magnitude might increase with the course of the disease and it can sometimes lead to total prevention of movement. Bronchial asthma might be experienced at the beginning during exertion with COPD. One must go for COPD treatments as soon as one notices any of these symptoms.
Common COPD Treatments and Medications
The goal of COPD treatment is to reduce the progression of the disease or halt and improve the quality of life of patients. Turning off the harmful influences is the prerequisite for any meaningful treatment. Smoking should be stopped by the patient, as stopping smoking is the main way for improving the process of prognosis. Passive smoking is also harmful in this case. Spirometry and a 6-minute walk test might be used for monitoring the lung function. The treatment of COPD is done predominantly with inhaled drugs that are administered or powder inhalers. Electrically operated nebulizer inhalers are also available. Bronchodilator drugs are also used for expanding the airways and reducing the airways resistance. Bronchodilators cause a reduction in breathlessness and improve resilience. The three groups of Bronchodilators which are used for COPD treatments are beta-2 agonists; anticholinergics and methylxanthines. The drugs differ in terms of the mechanism by which the respiratory muscles are affected and in terms of the effectiveness and adverse effects that may occur.
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