The purpose of this paper is to discuss an exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and its effect on my patient, Mr. HS, a 78 year old male. In this paper we will look at the various facets in the disease process including its incidence, pathophysiology, presenting complaints, analysis of his clinical presentation, and discuss treatment. We will analyze the effect the disease process has on Mr. HS and will examine his clinical manifestations and laboratory work, as well as provide an outcome analysis. Understanding these various facets will enable one to understand
The disease is quite common, affecting millions of Americans, and has forced its way all the way up to being the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Consequently, COPD is also associated with significant hardships in other aspects of life. Adults with COPD may have limitations during activities of daily living such as walking or climbing stairs (CDC, 2016). They may be unable to work and might require special equipment such as oxygen tanks (Wheaton et Al. 2013). They may present with other chronic diseases such as arthritis, CHF, diabetes, CHD, stroke, or asthma (Cunningham et al. 2015). Alongside those hardships, they may
It has been found that 12% of moderate and 26% of heavy smokers will develop a form of COPD in the later stages of life (Larsson, 2007). These statistic are shown to increase significantly as those who smoke age with approximately 50% of smokers diagnosed with COPD by the age of 75 (Larsson, 2007). It has been found that 90% of chronic bronchitis patients have developed the disease because of a long-standing history of tobacco smoking (TXT). Other important factors include air pollution, occupational hazards, advanced age, airway hyper-responsiveness, diet, alcohol consumption and heredity (Edelman et al., 1992). Although mortality rates for COPD have decreased due to the progression of medical care, COPD currently has one of the highest mortality rates throughout the developed world (Viegi et al., 2001). It currently ranks as the third highest burden of disease in Australasia and the ninth highest worldwide (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2013). The number of people with COPD is predicted to rapidly increase globally over the coming decades as the tobacco epidemic continues (Viegi et al. 2001). COPD also places a large economic burden on the world with the costs of treatment and care as well as the days of work lost (Viegi et al. 2001).
There are no cure for this disease. However, there are different treatment to prevent further deterioration of the lungs function in order to improve the quality of life of the patient by increasing capacity of their physical activity. One of the main severe complication a patient with COPD can develop is exacerbation. Increased breathlessness, increased sputum volume and purulent sputum are the signs and symptoms of exacerbation. Early detection of the signs of exacerbation can help keep the condition of the patient from worsening. The treatments of COPD mainly aims at controlling the symptoms of exacerbation such as taking inhalers. Patients who are over the age of 35 and ex-smokers with chronic cough and bronchitis are recommended to have spirometer (NICE, 2004). This is because it is possible to delay or prevent patients from developing severe case of COPD is identified before they lose their lungs functions. Oxygen therapy is another treatment for COPD as the patients with this condition has high
The topic is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). It is an umbrella term used for respiratory disorders such as chronic asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It is a serious condition that restricts airflow to the lungs and is not fully reversible. It is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Australia. More than 1 in 20 Australians over 55 have COPD and is also the fifth leading cause of death. There is also a rate of 1,008 per 100,000 of the population aged 55 and over being hospitalized for the condition. The rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders compared with non-indigenous Australians are 2.5 times as high (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2016). There is no cure however; the management can slow the disease progression and is therefore crucial to the quality of life of patients.
R.W. appears with progressive difficulty getting his breath while doing simple tasks, and also having difficulty doing any manual work, complains of a cough, fatigue, and weight loss, and has been treated for three respiratory infections a year for the past 3 years. On physical examination, CNP notice clubbing of his fingers, use accessory muscles for respiration, wheezing in the lungs, and hyperresonance on percussion of the lungs, and also pulmonary function studies show an FEV1 of 58%. These all symptoms and history represented here most strongly indicate the probability of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is a respiratory disease categorized by chronic airway inflammation, a decrease in lung function over time, and gradual damage in quality of life (Booker, 2014).
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, commonly known as COPD, is a collection of lung conditions or diseases that, all together, block the flow of air into the lungs. This condition makes it hard for the patient have dyspnea, anoxia, or eventually apnea. COPD usually starts off small and gradually gets worse and worse over time, hints chronic in its name. Because it starts off small there are many people who have this disease but do not know it until it is further along and worse. This disease is very common for both smokers and nonsmokers and is a bigger threat to our health than most people think. < Victor >< MacGill >
I will analyse the prevalence of the condition and what the potential causes may be. My interests have been directed to pre hospital care and community lead treatment packages, which are potentially available to the patient, as this is the acute environment, which I will have contact with in my employment as a paramedic. The initial reading was to understand COPD as a chronic condition, what is COPD? and its prevalence in the population. The (World health organisation, 2000), states that one in four deaths in the world are caused by COPD. In 2010 (Vos T Flaxman etal, 2012), says globally there were approximately 329 million, which is 4.8% of the population who are affected by this chronic condition, In the UK (NICE, 2010), have estimated that 3 million people suffer from COPD, with more yet to be diagnosed. This information about the amount of people living with this condition was surprising, as I little knowledge of its existence. During the early 1960’s (Timothy Q. Howes, 2005), says the term COPD had been designated as a single term unifying all the chronic respiratory diseases. Since then the term COPD, has been sub divided in to three umbrella areas, Bronchitis, Emphysema and Chronic asthma, which are separate conditions, which I have been previously aware of as their individual conditions. The 58 year old patient who we visited,
Have you ever known a person who smokes and has a hard time doing every day activities, due to difficulty of breath, or constantly coughing. He or she may have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD. COPD is a progressive and treatable lung disease that causes shortness of breath due to obstruction of air way (COPD, 2013). Progressive means that is gradually gets worse over time. It is a combination of chronic bronchitis and emphysema (Causes,2014). Chronic bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchioles, which causes mucus build up (Davis,2016). Emphysema is when the air sacs get enlarged (Smoking, 2016). Since the disease does not have a cure yet it is important to know pathology (path of disease), epidemiology (who is effected in a population), ethology (who is effected genetically), manifestation (symptoms), treatment, and outcome.
COPD is a disease that depletes a person of air. This disease is the fourth top cause of death in the United States. COPD describes several lung diseases including emphysema, chronic bronchitis, refractory asthma, and other forms of bronchiectasis. There is no average case, as every case is different from the next. This disease is long term but treatable.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease also known as COPD is a group of progressed lung disease that makes it hard for you to breath. The main disease that lead to COPD is bronchitis and emphysema. Emphysema is known to slowly destroys air sacs in your lungs which interfere with outward breathing. Bronchitis is inflammation and narrowing of the bronchial tubes in which mucus builds up in which carry the air from and to the lung. The symptoms are not major nor extreme. At first, they start off mild and don’t really cause any pain. First some people may experience coughing and shortness of breath and think that they are coming off with a cold. Once COPD progresses it can become increasingly hard to breath. At this point many go to the doctor in
All over the world, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a very significant and prevalent cause of morbidity and mortality, and it is increasing with time (Hurd, 2000; Pauwels, 2000; Petty, 2000). Due to the factor of COPD being an underdiagnosed and undertreated disease, the epidemiology (Pauwels, Rabe, 2004) is about 60 to 85 % with mild or moderate COPD remaining undiagnosed (Miravitlles et al., 2009; Hvidsten et al., 2010).
What exactly is COPD? First of all, COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It’s a disease that gets worse over time and makes it difficult for one to breath. It can also cause a cough that produces sputum, wheezing, shortness of breath, fast breathing, fatigue, chest tightness, and more. A person can get COPD from exposure to lung irritants (over a period of time) that cause harm to the lungs and the airway. Some factors are exposure to tobacco smoke, people with asthma who smoke, occupational exposure to dusts and chemicals, age (people 40 years of age or older), and genetics. Cigarette smoking remains the number one most commonly encountered risk factor in the development of COPD. The majority of cases of COPD are caused by
COPD is a lung disease that makes a person hard to breath. This can cause damage to the lung over the years and this is usually caused from smoking. COPD is a mix of two diseases chronic bronchitis is the airway that carry air to the lung that causes the lung to inflame and make a lot of mucus. This can cause or block the airways that will make it hard to breath. Then there is emphysema where this is a healthy person, Tiny air sacs in the lungs and look like balloons. As the person breathe when inhaling and exhaling. Emphysema are air sacs that damage and lose their stretch. This will cause for less air to get in and out the lungs, in which it will make you feel out of breath.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, also known as COPD, is the third leading cause of death in the United States. COPD includes extensive lungs diseases such as emphysema, non-reversible asthma, specific forms of bronchiectasis, and chronic bronchitis. This disease restricts the flow of air in and out of the lungs. Ways in which these limitations may occur include the loss of elasticity in the air sacs and throughout the airways, the destruction of the walls between air sacs, the inflammation or thickening of airway walls, or the overproduction of mucus in airways which can lead to blockage. Throughout this paper I am going to explain the main causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and ways to reduce COPD.