Introduction
COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a collection of illnesses that cause airflow obstruction and breathing difficulties. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are examples of COPD. It is a long-term inflammatory lung condition that causes airflow obstruction in the lungs.
How does the lungs get affected?
Through two huge tubes, air flows down your windpipe (trachea) and into your lungs (bronchi). These tubes split into numerous smaller tubes (bronchioles) that culminate in clusters of tiny air sacs inside your lungs, much like the branches of a tree (alveoli).
The walls of the air sacs are extremely thin and filled with small blood veins (capillaries). The oxygen in the air you breathe enters your circulation through these blood arteries. Carbon dioxide, a waste product of metabolism, is also exhaled at the same moment.
To drive air out of your body, your lungs rely on the inherent flexibility of your bronchial tubes and air sacs. They lose their suppleness and over-expand as a result of COPD, leaving some air trapped in your lungs when you exhale.
Causes of Airway Obstruction
Airway obstruction includes:
- Emphysema – The delicate walls and elastic fibres of the alveoli are destroyed by this lung disease. When you exhale, your small airways contract, restricting airflow out of your lungs.
- Chronic bronchitis – Your bronchial tubes become inflamed and constricted as a result of this disease, and your lungs generate more mucus, which can further clog the restricted tubes. In an attempt to clean your airways, you acquire a persistent cough.
Diagnosis, Exam and Tests
- Spirometry test to assess lung function. While taking a deep breath during the test and then blow into a tube connected to the spirometer
- Imagining tests like X-ray or CT Scan
- Arterial blood gas test in which blood sample is taken from your artery to measure blood oxygen, carbon dioxide and other levels
Causes
Common causes of COPD include:
- Cigarette smoke:
As this is the most common cause of COPD due to breathing in of smoke, cigar, tobacco etc.
- Secondhand smoke:
This is sometimes called as passive smoking which means breathing in the smoke of another smoker.
- Fumes and Pollution:
Air pollution is a big factor to cause COPD. The breathing in of chemical fumes, dust or toxic substances may lead to this disease,
- Genetic factor:
Rarely, people tend to have COPD in their inheritance with a defected DNA. This defect is called as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.
- Asthma:
Prolonged asthma, which won’t be treated timely might lead to COPD.
Risk Factors
- Age
- Respiratory infections
- Exposure to work in areas producing toxic fumes
- Asthma
- Smoking
- Gender
Signs and Symptoms
Common symptoms of COPD include:
- SOB (shortness of breath)
- Breathlessness
- Persistent cough
- Wheezing sounds
- Chest pain (in certain conditions)
- Chest tightness
- Frequent respiratory infections
- Drastic weight loss (in later stages)
- Swelling in ankles, feet or legs
Although therapy can help delay the course of symptoms, they generally become worse with time and make everyday tasks more difficult. There may be occasions when your symptoms abruptly worsen, which is referred to as a flare-up or exacerbation. A few flare-ups a year are normal, especially during the winter due to cold and cough.
When to consult a doctor
If your symptoms do not improve or worsen with therapy, or if you discover signs of infection, such as a fever or a change in your sputum, consult your doctor. If you can’t catch your breath, have severe blueness of your lips or fingernail beds (cyanosis), have a fast heartbeat, or feel fuzzy and have problems concentrating, seek medical help right away.
Treatment
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has no cure at the moment, although therapy can help reduce the illness’s development and regulate symptoms.
- Quit smoking
- Inhalers and tablets – to help breathing easy
- Pulmonary rehabilitation (a special exercise plan)
- Surgery
- Lung transplant
- Short acting bronchodilators
Bronchodilators are medications that relax and expand your airways, making breathing easier. Short-acting bronchodilator inhalers come in two varieties: salbutamol, and terbutaline. When you’re feeling short of breath, take a short-acting inhaler up to four times each day.
- Long acting bronchodilators
A long-acting bronchodilator inhaler will be prescribed if you have symptoms throughout the day. These function similarly to short-acting bronchodilators, but each dose lasts at least 12 hours, requiring just one or two doses each day.
- Steroid inhalers
Corticosteroid medications, which are included in steroid inhalers, can help to decrease inflammation in your airways. In most cases, steroid inhalers are administered as part of a combination inhaler that also contains a long-acting medication.
- Antibiotics
Doctors can prescribe a short course of antibiotics if signs of chest infection increase.
Other treatments
- Nebulized Medicine
Nebulized medicinal drug can be utilized in extreme instances of COPD if inhalers have now no longer worked. This is in which a device is used to show liquid medicinal drug right into an excellent mist which you breathe in thru a mouthpiece or a face mask. It permits a huge dose of medication to be taken in a single go. You’ll commonly accept a nebulizer tool to apply at domestic after being proven the way to use it.
- Long Term Oxygen Therapy
If COPD causes a low level of oxygen in your blood, you may be advised to have oxygen at home through nasal tubes or a mask. This can help stop the level of oxygen in your blood becoming dangerously low, although it’s not a treatment for the main symptoms of COPD, such as breathlessness. Long-term oxygen treatment should be used for at least 16 hours a day.
- Surgery
There are 3 main surgeries that can be done:
- Bullectomy – an operation to get rid of a pocket of air from one of the lungs, permitting the lungs to paintings higher and make respiration greater comfortable.
- Lung quantity discount surgery – an operation to take away a badly broken segment of lung to permit the healthier components to paintings higher and make respiration greater comfortable.
- Lung transplant – an operation to do away with and update a broken lung with a healthful lung from a donor
Reference
[i] https://www.winchesterhospital.org/health-library/article?id=19330
[ii https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-copd/treatment/
