Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

COPD is a complex syndrome of airway inflammation pathophysiology starts with damage to the airways and air sacs in the lungs. It progresses to a cough with mucus and eventually to difficulty breathing. COPD is a lung disease that makes it hard to breathe. It is caused by damage to the lungs usually from smoking. COPD is often a mix of two diseases - Chronic bronchitis and Emphysema. COPD is almost always caused by smoking. Over time, breathing tobacco smoke irritates the airways and destroys the stretchy fibers in the lungs. Other things that may put you at risk include breathing chemical fumes, dust, or air pollution over a long period of time. Secondhand smoke also may damage the lungs.

Disease Statistics

The Extrapolated statistics of chronic sinusitis in Canada is 1,792,713 per 32,507,874 populations estimated.

Typical Symptoms

The main symptoms are a long-lasting (chronic) cough, mucus that comes up when you cough and shortness of breath that gets worse when you exercise. As COPD gets worse, one may be short of breath even when doing simple things like get dressed or fix a meal. It gets harder to eat or exercise, and breathing takes much more energy. People often lose weight and get weaker. At times, the symptoms may suddenly flare up and get much worse which is called a COPD exacerbation. An exacerbation can range from mild to life-threatening.

Therapeutic Approach

The major medication opted in the treatment of COPD include Bronchodilators, Combination Bronchodilators plus Inhaled Glucocorticosteroids along with Quitting smoking and avoid lung irritants. The vaccines which are used COPD patients include Flu Shots and Pneumococcal Vaccine. Certain other alternative treatments include Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Oxygen Therapy, Surgery, Bullectomy, Lung Volume Reduction Surgery and Lung Transplant

Current Research

The current ongoing research studies related to COPD includes Tai Chi after pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with COPD: A randomized trial, BEAM COPD: Breathing, Education, Awareness and Movement in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), The Effect of Physical Activity Promotion on Short and Long-term Outcomes in COPD, Beta-Blockers for the Prevention of Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and many more research studies to improve the treatment for COPD patients.