Living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

This post would be our contribution to World COPD Day 2019. Do you know how many people around the world suffer from this disease? Rough estimates suggest that there are 30 million patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in India. The increasing percentage of mortality from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the highest in our country. On this World COPD Day, let’s raise awareness about this condition, its symptoms, causes and effects.

Important facts:

• In India there are 30 million patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
• More than 65 million people worldwide have moderate or severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
• COPD accounted for 7% of deaths in India.
• About 90% of COPD cases are related to smoking.

What is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?

COPD or Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease It is a lung disease that makes breathing difficult by blocking the airways. The airways are inflamed and thickened, and the lung tissue involved in oxygen exchange may also be destroyed. The amount of air that enters the lungs is less, which means that less oxygen is transferred to the blood, which also means that the cells of the body receive less oxygen.

COPD is commonly known as a group of two lung diseases: emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

What are the symptoms?

The main symptoms of this disease are:

• Chronic cough
• Cough accompanied by phlegm
• Shortness of breath, during exercise or even rest activities.

As the disease progresses, it becomes difficult for the patient to perform even the simplest daily tasks, such as walking or dressing. Breathing requires much more effort and due to the loss of extra energy, the patient tends to become weak.

How does this disease affect the lungs?

The inflamed and narrowed airways in the lungs tend to collapse every time the patient exhales and also become clogged with mucus. This reduces the amount of air that can flow into the airways of the lungs. Airway inflammation sensitizes the nerves, causing them to respond by strongly stimulating the airway muscles. The strong contraction of the muscles is called a cough, which helps to clear the phlegm from the lungs and into the throat. (smoker’s cough).

In addition, this disease impairs the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood in the lungs through its two manifestations: emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

• emphysema it destroys the alveoli (small sacs that allow the passage of oxygen to the blood). Instead of alveoli, large air sacs are formed, which do not perform the function of alveoli, but also interfere with adjacent normal lung tissue.
• chronic bronchitis it causes shortness of breath due to narrow, mucus-filled airways that cannot complete the transport of oxygen. With each breath, less oxygen enters the blood, causing the patient to run out of air.

What are your causes?

• of smoking – Toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke cause narrowing of the airways, inflammation of the airways, and destruction of the air sacs, along with reduced lung immunity to fight infection. Smoking is the main cause of COPD in humans.
• The air pollution – Fumes containing toxic air pollutants, dust, and even certain chemicals that a person may be exposed to at work can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
• genetics – A small percentage of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have a genetic deficiency that results in low levels of a liver protein known as alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT). This protein is released into the blood where it is known to protect the lungs. Alpha-1 deficiency affects both the liver and the lungs. In the lungs, it causes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.