Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - COPD

by

Elisa Ruiz

About COPD

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a respiratory disease that gets worse over time. This progressive disease makes it harder to breathe due to coughing, wheezing, mucus build up in the lungs, shortness of breath and chest tightness. The leading cause of COPD is cigarette smoking and some long term exposure to air pollution, chemical fumes, dust and other lung irritants can also cause COPD. With COPD it makes it harder to breathe because less air flows in and out of the airways for 4 reasons. 1. the airways and air sacs are losing their elasticity. 2. The walls between the air sacs are damaged, 3. The walls of the airways thicken or become inflamed. 4. Air ways are clogged due to overproduction of mucus. 

Treatments for COPD

There is no cure for COPD but there are treatments to manage the symptoms of COPD. Some of those treatments include lifestyle changes like quitting smoking and making an eating plan if COPD symptoms make it difficult to eat. Medicines like bronchodilators (inhalers) which relax the muscles around the airways to make breathing easier and using inhaled steroids called glucocorticosteroids which can help to reduce airway inflammation. Vaccines like the flu shot or a pneumococcal vaccine to decrease risk of pneumonia. Pulmonary rehabilitation to help those who have chronic breathing issues. Oxygen therapy which requires wearing a mask. This type of treatment for COPD helps to raise the levels of oxygen in the blood and helps to breathe better. Surgery is a treatment for those who have serious COPD symptoms that cannot be improved by taking medicines. 

Statistics of COPD in Minnesota

According the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) among adults in Minnesota 4.1% of residents reported being told by a physician or health care professional that they are COPD. More statistics from the CDC about COPD in Minnesota states the more adults were likely to report having COPD if they were 65 or older, were unable to work, had a household income of less than 25,000, were divorced widowed or separated, either are currently or were a smoker, had a history of asthma. Adults in Minnesota who were less likely to report having COPD had some college education, never smoked or had a history of asthma. 

Photo URL:

https://www.biophysics.org/blog/molecular-mechanisms-of-inflammatory-signaling-in-copd

Source URL:

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/copd 

https://www.cdc.gov/copd/data.html