COPD is...

COPD ( la EPOC in Spanish ) is a lung disease that you need to know about. COPD is the 4th leading cause of death in the United States and is on the rise. Awareness and early diagnosis can be key to prolonging quality of life.

Submitted by Rita Foung for BREATHE LA

DEFINITION: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, a long-term lung disease that includes most often chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and most commonly caused by smoking. People with COPD usually have both chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Although COPD is incurable, it can certainly be treated.

SYMPTOMS: Shortness of breath, increased mucus or phlegm, coughing, fatigue, frequent long-lasting chest infections (i.e., colds, flu, pneumonia), wheezing, weight-loss, a barrel-shaped chest

EFFECTS ON YOUR LUNGS: COPD damages the airways that go in and out of your lungs. This leads to damaged air sacs at the tips of your airways making it hard to take in oxygen (Emphysema), and/or leads to irritated, swollen and red airways that create too much mucus and prevent air from passing through (Chronic Bronchitis).

HOW DOES IT HAPPEN:

• the airways and air sacs in your lungs lose their shape and flexibility
• the walls between many air sacs are destroyed while the walls of the airways become swollen
• the cells in the airways overproduce mucus preventing air from moving through

CAUSES: COPD is mainly caused by smoking cigarettes. Other causes include second-hand smoke, air pollution (dust or chemicals), and repeated lung infections as a child. It can also be caused by a rare genetic disorder called Alpha-1 Antitrypsin deficiency – the body does not carry enough of the Alpha-1 protein that protects the lungs from air pollution, smoking, and second-hand smoke.

TREATMENT: Though there is no cure for COPD, the symptoms can be treated and you may be able to slow down the disease’s progress. You can live a full and active life if you follow these simple rules:

• Quit smoking. Stay away from polluted environments.
• Take the proper medications, including pills, puffers and supplemental oxygen
• Exercise and join a pulmonary rehabilitation class

COMPLICATIONS: Those with COPD eventually die from it, or from complications. These include recurring chest infections (i.e., pneumonia, flu, etc.) respiratory failure, arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat), pulmonary hypertension (abnormally high blood pressure in the lungs’ arteries), and cor pulmonale (enlargement on the right side of the heart which can lead to heart failure).

GET DIAGNOSED EARLY. Many people in their 40’s, 50’s or 60’s have these symptoms, but correlate them to old age, when in fact it could be COPD. If you live in a high-risk environment and you have the symptoms listed, it is important to get diagnosed early so that you can slow the disease down and treat it properly.

EASY DIAGNOSTIC TESTS:
Be able to answer the following questions –

1. 1) What is your family history of lung disease?
2. 2) What is your personal history of smoking?
3. 3) Are you short of breath, and if so, what makes it worse?
4. 4) Do you cough?
5. 5) Do you cough up phlegm?

Ask for spirometry, a simple test that will show how much air moves out of your lungs. It is also the most reliable way to test your lungs. You blow as hard as you can into a small tube attached to a machine and it measures how long it takes for you to blow all the air out from your lungs. The longer it takes, the more blocked your airways.

A chest x-ray will help determine damage to the lungs.

A blood test measures the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood.

Take part in the national COPD survey, The COPD Questions. Click here to access the survey and/or to share it with your family and friend. BREATHE LA is working with the National Heart, Lung Blood Institite, a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to increase awareness of COPD, by taking part in the national survey, and inviting others to do so too, you are doing your part to raise awareness about COPD. Thanks!