Having a health condition that affects your respiratory may be an unsettling experience. It could actually also significantly limit the belongings you’re capable of do and the activities you enjoy. Perhaps you’ve gotten trouble respiratory once you’re exercising. Or perhaps it’s a more constant presence in your day by day life.
There are lots of things, each temporary and long-term, that could cause difficulty respiratory, and probably the most common conditions is COPD. In keeping with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COPD affects 16 million Americans, making it probably the most prevalent health conditions within the country.
So, how is COPD different from asthma and other lung conditions? And might it’s improved? We’ll cover COPD symptoms, causes, treatment and prevention, in addition to the perfect first steps to take for those who find you’re having trouble respiratory.
What’s COPD?
COPD (short for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is a progressive inflammatory lung condition that slowly restricts airflow, making it harder to breathe over time.
COPD affects thousands and thousands of individuals within the US, and there are thousands and thousands more who don’t know they’ve it. Women make up greater than half of individuals with COPD, and in line with the CDC, it’s one in every of the country’s leading causes of disabilities and mortality. COPD may also contribute to other health complications, including frequent respiratory infections, heart problems, hypertension in lung arteries and depression.
COPD is a chronic (long-term) disease, but there are methods to assist prevent it – primarily by not smoking or quitting smoking. While it isn’t possible to reverse the lung damage brought on by COPD, there are methods to assist manage the symptoms and improve your quality of life, including lifestyle changes and medication options.
There are two important types of COPD, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Nearly all of individuals with COPD have each types, although the severity of every of them varies by person.
Chronic bronchitis
Chronic bronchitis is a condition that results from repeated irritation within the lungs’ airways (called bronchial tubes or bronchioles). That irritation causes inflammation (tissue that’s swollen or inflamed), and thick mucus forms within the airways, making it hard for air to travel to the lungs. Chronic bronchitis causes shortness of breath, coughing, excess mucus and other pulmonary symptoms.
Emphysema
Inside our lungs are tiny air sacs (called alveoli) that act like balloons. They inflate with air once you breathe in and deflate once you breathe out. For somebody with emphysema, those air sacs are damaged and lose their natural elasticity. The inner partitions of the alveoli weaken and rupture, which creates larger air spaces within the lungs. The surface area of the lungs is reduced, and so is the quantity of oxygen that makes it to the bloodstream, causing shortness of breath, coughing and other respiratory symptoms.
What’s the difference between asthma and COPD?
Asthma and COPD are each lung diseases that make it hard to breathe. But while the 2 can have similar symptoms (and do sometimes overlap) they’re distinct conditions.
COPD is the term for 2 progressive respiratory conditions, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. COPD gets worse over time, even with treatment, and it’s primarily brought on by smoking or pollutants in someone’s environment.
Asthma is a condition that causes the lungs’ airways to grow to be inflamed and narrower (often triggered by allergens, infections just like the common cold, exercise or cold air), making it hard to breathe. Symptoms of asthma include wheezing, shortness of breath, coughing and producing extra mucus. Asthma generally is a life-long condition, but its severity typically goes through cycles of worsening symptoms followed by improvement. There’s no cure, but it will possibly be successfully managed with medications and other methods to keep up a superb quality of life.
Asthma can have multiple causes, including genetics or environmental aspects. Like COPD, asthma may be worsened by poor air quality in a single’s environment or workplace.
Symptoms of COPD
Signs of COPD vary from individual to individual, however the important symptoms typically include:
- Chronic (long-term) cough
- Mucus that comes up once you cough
- Shortness of breath (especially during physical activity)
- Wheezing
- Frequent respiratory infections
- Weakness
- Weight reduction on account of lack of appetite (in later stages)
As COPD progresses, even doing easy tasks like getting dressed or making dinner could cause shortness of breath. When it gets harder to eat or exercise, the body needs to make use of more energy for respiratory, causing weakness and unintended weight reduction from low appetite.
Note: Serious or sudden symptoms of difficulty respiratory may require emergency medical care. If you happen to’re experiencing trouble respiratory, sudden shortness of breath, chest pain, lightheadedness, nausea, mental fogginess, or have a bluish tint to your lips, fingers or toes, call 911.
What does COPD feel like?
Someone within the early stages of COPD may notice that they get drained or out of breath more quickly when using the steps, and that they’ve a cough that just won’t appear to go away.
More advanced COPD gives someone those self same symptoms but with more intensity. They’ll notice that their respiratory problems are starting to limit their quality of life and the activities they’re capable of do.
For those with severe COPD, shortness of breath and a wet (producing mucus), hacking cough are almost consistently present. The mucus and inflammation are significantly blocking those bronchial airways and respiratory becomes labored. The additional energy needed for respiratory could cause weight reduction and weakness, making even easy physical efforts very difficult.
What causes COPD?
COPD can have several causes, but the vast majority of people develop it from inhaling irritants like tobacco smoke, dust or chemical fumes that damage their lungs. The most important offender of those is smoking, nevertheless it could also occur from poor air quality and other irritants in someone’s environment. Still, 30% of COPD cases occur to individuals who have never smoked. And there are a lot of smokers who never find yourself developing the disease. Let’s take a look at different causes of COPD more closely.
COPD and smoking
Smoking is by far probably the most common cause for COPD, and also a standard trigger for COPD flare-ups. An estimated 30-40% of smokers develop COPD. When someone inhales smoke, they’re pulling dangerous chemicals into each of their tiny airways. Over time (and it doesn’t take long for even minor damage and irritation to start) that lung pollution begins to annoy and harm bronchioles, air sacs and the liner of the lungs.
Many individuals wonder, Can COPD get well for those who quit smoking? The reply is yes. COPD is a progressive disease, so while quitting smoking won’t cure it, taking that step could make significant improvements to your health. Quitting smoking when you’ve gotten COPD can reduce irritation and inflammation, improve coughing and chest tightness, and prevent further damage and depletion of lung function.
If you happen to’re able to quit smoking, your primary care doctor can work with you to assist make that occur. They will connect you with health coaches, quitting aids and other resources so you’ve gotten support behind you as you make this vital change.
Alpha-1 deficiency
Some people have a rare genetic type of COPD where the body doesn’t make sufficient amounts of a protein that protects the lungs called alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAt). AAt is made by the liver and its job is to guard the lungs. Only one% of COPD patients have an AAt deficiency, but it will possibly cause liver or lung disease, and sometimes each.
AAt deficiency is hereditary and may be screened for using a blood test, which could also be a superb idea if you’ve gotten a family history of COPD or for those who develop early onset COPD.
Environmental aspects
Certain things in your immediate environment (whether at work or home) can result in COPD for those who’re exposed to them continuously. These irritants include secondhand smoke, dust, chemical fumes or vapors, and pollution. COPD is commonly considered an occupational hazard because people who find themselves involved with irritants like these day by day or for long periods are at the next risk for developing the disease.
How is COPD diagnosed?
If you happen to think you will have signs of COPD, talking to a primary care doctor is an excellent first step toward checking out what’s occurring. The doctor will take a well-rounded take a look at your health, including your symptoms, your medical history, your lifestyle habits (equivalent to whether you smoke, or have previously), what you do for work, and the air quality in your day by day environment.
Next, they’ll do a physical examination, which regularly involves taking your blood pressure, listening to your heart and lungs, and examining your legs and ankles for any swelling.
There are also several tests doctors use to assist them form a diagnosis when someone is experiencing shortness of breath and other lung symptoms.
- Pulmonary function tests – A full set of pulmonary function tests are likely to provide the perfect diagnosis. This involves going into a transparent box to measure lung capability volumes and the lung’s ability to select up oxygen.
- Spirometry – For this test, you blow air right into a tube that’s attached to a machine. It measures the quantity of air you possibly can exhale, and how briskly you possibly can do it.
- Pulse oximetry – This easy test measures the quantity of oxygen in your blood. A pulse oximeter device is a small, painless clamp that’s placed over one finger for a couple of seconds to get a reading.
- Arterial blood gases (ABGs) – For these tests, a sample of blood is taken from an artery (normally out of your wrist or arm) to search for carbon dioxide retention within the blood. This kind of testing is often done when someone is incredibly obese or appears to have severe COPD symptoms.
- Chest X-ray or CT scan – These imaging tests help doctors search for changes within the lungs which may be brought on by COPD (or one other condition).
Managing symptoms: Treatment for COPD
While there’s no cure for COPD, there are a selection of treatment methods doctors use to assist manage the condition and improve quality of life. These treatments deal with relieving symptoms like coughing and shortness of breath, in addition to stopping respiratory infections that could make COPD worse.
- Quit smoking – For smokers, step one in treatment is to quit smoking.
- Avoid environmental irritants – Avoid environments with poor air quality, including smoke, secondhand smoke, chemicals and other irritants at work or at home.
- Medications – Certain medicines may be used to enhance symptoms like coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. Doctors also prescribe antibiotics to fight infections.
- Careful prevention and treatment of respiratory infections – Lung infections can create serious complications for individuals with COPD. It’s vital to avoid them as much as possible and treat them early in the event that they do occur. And vaccines for illnesses like COVID-19, the flu and pneumonia are extra vital if you’ve gotten COPD.
- Supplemental oxygen – For those with consistently low blood oxygen levels, it could be needed to have a conveyable oxygen tank readily available.
- Pulmonary rehabilitation – During pulmonary rehabilitation, a mix of exercise, lifestyle education and dietary counseling may be used to enhance your ability to breathe, in addition to other symptoms.
Prevention: How can I avoid COPD?
The primary strategy to avoid developing COPD is to not smoke. This includes cigarettes, tobacco pipes, marijuana and vapes. And for those who currently smoke, know that quitting smoking can enable you prevent COPD or significantly improve your COPD symptoms and lung health if you’ve gotten it.
Other than smoking, the subsequent biggest strategy to prevent COPD is to avoid environments with poor air quality. Poor air quality means air with dust, smoke, gasses, high pollution, chemicals or fumes. Anything that irritates your lungs once you breath it.
Every now and then we would experience poor air quality for a short while – for instance, respiratory in smoke from a campfire when the wind changes direction. But frequent exposure to damaging irritants may be very harmful to your lungs and many other areas of your health. And lung pollution can begin at any age, so it’s vital for folks to guard their kids’ health by ensuring they live in an environment with good air quality.
Seek advice from a health care provider about shortness of breath
If you happen to’re experiencing shortness of breath, even for those who don’t produce other signs of illness, make an appointment along with your primary care doctor.
Your primary care doctor can enable you understand what you is likely to be experiencing. They might recommend some tests to diagnose what’s causing your respiratory trouble, or if additional expertise is required, they’ll connect you with a pulmonologist (lung health specialist) for more specialized care if needed.