Copd Case Study

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,

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

COPD is one of the greatest causes of disability and mortality in the twenty first century with future predictions painting an even graver story. Occupation, genome, and primarily smoking are the main causes of COPD. COPD is the third leading cause of death in America, claiming the lives of 134,676 Americans in 2010. Symptoms are typical of a constant smokers cough which progresses into the debilitating palliative stage of the disease; the development of co-morbidities exacerbates these symptoms. COPD has a complex pathophysiology involving hyperinflation, excessive mucus production and airway remodeling; diagnosis is through lung function tests. COPD is poorly managed with few effective treatments and a poor

The study included 100 patients with COPD. All patients fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. According to its demographic and clinical parameters and treatment groups differ among themselves. Completed the study, all patients included in the study. The therapy in all patients with a clinically meaningful improvement of symptoms was observed.

Within the confines of this assignment, it is the hope of the author that the reader will obtain an understanding of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This will be achieved by bringing the reader through the patients’ illness journey. The assignment will begin by defining COPD and briefly going through the pathophysiology and incidents of the condition. From there the reader will embark on the journey, starting with diagnosis.

Rationale: L.J. exhibits symptoms of COPD that include shortness of breath and productive cough. He has a smoking history of 65-pack-year and smoking has been identified as the primary cause/trigger of the disease (Nagelmann et al., 2011).

Management is diverse, the objective is to relief from symptoms, delay progression, increase exercise tolerance and reduce mortality; this can be accomplished by preventing and treating complications (Nettina, 2013). Since smoking is so rampant in this patient, it is critical that the nurse translates the importance of smoking cessation to slow disease advancement and increase survival (Nettina, 2013). Another standard treatment of COPD is the use of inhaled bronchodilators that reduce dyspnea and bronchospasm (Nettina, 2013). Some of these medications are long acting, such as the anticholinergic Tiotropium or the beta adrenergic agonists Salmeterol, others are short acting, used before activity or when symptoms worsen; examples of such are Ipratropium, an anticholinergic, and the beta adrenergic agonists Albuterol (Nettina, 2013).The patient that has repeated exacerbations and is symptomatic with a FEV1 less than fifty percent is often prescribed inhaled corticosteroids (Nettina. 2013). Those experiencing an acute exacerbation are prescribed oral corticosteroids due to their anti-inflammatory attributes (Nettina, 2013). All of these inhaled medications require the nurse to provide extensive teaching on proper use of the types of inhalers, as well as, the importance of the taking as prescribed; this is also the case of the oral corticosteroid

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (http://www.thehealthsite.com/diseases-conditions/copd/001/) is considered one of the most common causes of death in the world today and, it appears that most of the patients are active smokers. However, according to researchers, the pulmonary disease can affect everybody, not only people who smoke.

COPD, or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, is one of the most common lung diseases. Thousands of people are diagnosed every year, and it recently moved up to the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S., behind heart disease and cancer. This paper will discuss disease pathology, the most common and recently discovered diagnostic tests, as well as treatment options. It will also address end of life care.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is progressively common amongst patients within the United States. The disease is more common in patients with a long smoking history. Inflammatory changes are largely responsible for the development and symptoms of COPD. COPD is typically managed according to classification of severity based on the GOLD guidelines. Anoro Ellipta is a new once daily FDA approved drug. It is a combination of a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) and a long-acting b2-agonist that should be considered in the management of COPD. Efficacy studies have proved Anoro Eliipta in preventing COPD exacerbations and show it is well tolerated amongst patients.

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).

Affecting more than 14.2 million people in the United States, the predominant cause of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder is excessive tobacco smoke. Although there are other factors and causes that can contribute to COPD, such as chemicals, air pollutants, and other underlying causes, heart disease and lung cancer also being associated with this debilitating disease. Statics estimate that there is over 315,000,000 people who are smokers.

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.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disorder characterized by a small airway obstruction and reduction in expiratory flow rate (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). It affects over ten percent of the United States’ population, is the 4th leading cause of death, and costs over $37 billion annually to treat (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). In 2013, 2.8% of every 100,000 diagnosed with COPD, died from chronic bronchitis or emphysema related causes (CDC, 2014). Common risk factors for the development of COPD include smoking, air pollution, chronic respiratory infections, and hyperresponsive airways due to asthma (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). Unfortunately, early signs and symptoms of COPD are practically nonexistent. Once a patient starts exhibiting symptoms, the disease has progressed significantly (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). Pulmonary function tests are essential to diagnose COPD. Forced vital capacity, or the maximum amount of air exhaled with force, indicates lung size (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). Forced expiratory volume (FEV1) measures the maximum amount of air expired in one second (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). FEV1 and symptoms exhibited are used to stage COPD (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). COPD is staged at five levels of severity (Refer to Appendix for severity scale). The severity of COPD is defined by FEV 1 %, or the maximal amount of air forcefully exhaled in one second using spirometry (Timmins, et.al., 2012). Emphysema and chronic

COPD is characterized by chronic inflammation found in the airways lung parenchyma, and pulmonary vasculature (Huether and McCance, 2012). The pathogenesis of COPD is complex and involves many mechanisms. However, the primary process is inflammation (Huether and McCance, 2012). The inflammatory process starts with inhalation of toxic particles and gases. The airways become inflamed, resulting in excess mucus production; Peripheral ways undergo repeated cycles of injury and repair of the airway walls with resultant structural remodeling (Huether and McCance, 2012). The lungs can be inflated quickly but can only partially deflate.