COPD
How Lungs Function
COPD
Emphysema
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Many acute respiratory conditions can become chronic, particularly when aggravated by environmental factors such as cigarette smoke or air pollution. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), also called Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COLD), refers to a group of diseases that share a common feature—difficulty in expelling air from the lungs. The three diseases most commonly labeled COPD are:
- Asthma
- Chronic bronchitis
- Emphysema
While hereditary and environmental factors can play a role in causing or aggravating COPD, smoking is responsible for 82% of cases. COPD is the most common form of pulmonary dysfunction today. According to the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, 24 million Americans have COPD.
COPD is a growing cause of disability and mortality. The fourth leading cause of death in United States, COPD is also the second major cause of disability (behind coronary artery disease).
Types of COPD
Asthma
Asthma is marked by episodes of acute wheezing with shortness of breath, variable cough, and reversible airflow obstruction. In patients with asthma, some irritant causes the muscles of the bronchial tubes to spasm and narrow, and there is a noted increase in the production of mucus. When these occur, the asthma patient experiences shortness of breath, coughing, and wheezing. Asthma is almost always a medically-treatable or medically-controllable disease.
The mainstay of asthma therapy is the use of inhaled bronchodilators and inhaled antiinflammatory medications. While causes of asthma have been linked to heredity factors, it is clear that smoking, air pollution, exposure to dust and fumes, and lung infections worsen the condition.
Chronic Bronchitis
Chronic bronchitis is characterized by chronic cough and sputum production, intermittent wheezing with variable degrees of shortness of breath on exertion, recurring and continuing for months. Chronic bronchitis results from inflammation and swelling of the cells lining the bronchus. This inflammation causes the production of excessive mucus. Both the swelling and excess mucus contribute to the narrowing of the bronchi, making air exchange more difficult and increasing the risk of lung infections for the patient.
Airflow obstruction in chronic bronchitis is usually partially reversible. Therapy in chronic bronchitis centers on inhaled bronchodiltators, particularly atropine derivatives, antibiotics, and occasionally steroid medication for flare-ups. Tendency to develop chronic bronchitis is considered hereditary, but the disease is clearly worsened by smoking, air pollution, exposure to dust and fumes, and lung infections.
Emphysema
Emphysema is a progressive destructive lung disease in which the walls between the tiny air sacs in the lungs are damaged. As a result, the lungs lose their elasticity and breathing out becomes more and more difficult. Air remains trapped in the overinflated lungs.
Emphysema patients report increasing shortness of breath, especially with activity, as well as variable degrees of coughing and wheezing, and irreversible airflow obstruction. Heredity is thought to play a part in the tendency to develop emphysema, but the disease is clearly worsened by smoking, air pollution, exposure to dust and fumes and lung infections.
Read about COPD Treatments
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