Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of gradual, incapacitating respiratory conditions, which include emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It is generally characterized by reduced breathing capacity, airflow restriction in the lungs, a persistent cough, and other various symptoms. COPD is notoriously associated with a history of cigarette smoking and has become the number one contributor to mortality in chronic disease of the lower respiratory tract. It is also defined as a preventable and treatable disease with some additive pulmonary effects. The pulmonary component of COPD is defined by airflow limitation that is not deemed to be completely reversible. The aspect of airflow limitation is generally a gradual process and is associated with an abnormal inflammatory response in the lung to foreign gases or particles (McCance, 2014).
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is preventable disease that has a detrimental effects on both the airway and lung parenchyma (Nazir & Erbland, 2009). COPD categorises emphysema and chronic bronchitis, both of which are characterised by a reduced maximum expiratory flow and slow but forced emptying of the lungs (Jeffery 1998). The disease has the one of the highest number of fatalities in the developed world due to the ever increasing amount of tobacco smokers and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality (Marx, Hockberger & Walls, 2014). Signs and symptoms that indicate the presence of the disease include a productive cough, wheezing, dyspnoea and predisposing risk factors (Edelman et al., 1992).
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).
COPD is a multidimensional illness, with a few systemic signs and relationship with various comorbid maladies. The undoubtedly connect amongst COPD and these extrapulmonary conditions is an overflow of provocative arbiters from the lung, as systemic irritation is related with skeletal muscle squandering and cachexia and also with cardiovascular, metabolic, and bone illnesses. More research is expected to comprehend the connections between these illnesses and to scan for regular treatable segments. It appears to be likely that medications, for example, statins, that are as of now used to oversee cardiovascular and metabolic ailments may likewise give an advantage in COPD patients, in spite of the fact that it is critical that randomized fake treatment controlled trials be led to affirm this probability. It is critical to consider how the presence of a comorbid infection may influence the administration of the patient who additionally
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.
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).
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the United States. “COPD affects over 24 million Americans and our community stretches across all 50 states.” (COPD Foundation, 2016, p. 1). In this paper we will go over the main causes of COPD, what is emphysema and chronic bronchitis, the symptoms, also we will cover the different stages COPD and some of the common treatments. Although COPD does not discriminate by age it is primarily found to affect the middle age and older group. As we go further
The defining feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the limited airflow during forced exhalation that is not fully reversible(R. Higginson, 2010). On assessment of Terry’s condition it was found he has a moderate work of breathing, a respiratory rate of 30, diminished breath sounds, has a barrel chest and uses tripod positioning. The inability to expire air is a major concern and characteristic of copd(Di Brown, 2015). The primary site of airflow is limited and the airways are reduced in size, reducing the amount of air that can get in and out of the lungs(R. Higginson, 2010). As the airways become smaller and obstructed, air is trapped during expiration due to the volume of residual air greatly increasing, destroying the alveoli attached to small airways(R. Higginson, 2010). The residual air and loss of elastic recoil makes it harder to exhale air. If an individual is unable to perform levels of expiration then the air becomes trapped in the lungs, making the chest hyper expand and become barrel shaped. Having a barrel shaped chest, decreases the respiratory muscles to work effectively and the functional
The lungs are complex elastic organs that work by exchanging carbon dioxide (gas that the body needs to remove) for oxygen (gas that the body needs). When we inhale, the diaphragm along with the intercostals muscles contract and expand the chest cavity. This process allows air to go inside the airways and inflates the lungs. When we exhale, the diaphragm and the intercostals muscles relax and allow the chest cavity to gets smaller. This process enables air to flow out of the airways and the lungs deflate (National Institute of Health, 2013). When a patient has COPD, less air is flowing in and out of the airways. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), best describe the reasons for this cause: “the airways and air sacs lose their elastic quality, the walls between many of the air sacs are destroyed, the walls of the airways become thick and inflamed, and the airways make more mucus than usual, which can
Almost 1 in 3 participants (38%) had a decline in lung function of more than double that of the healthy population (-40 ml per year or more). Another third (31%) had a decline by that of the healthy population or up to double (-21 to -40 ml per year). The last third (31%) had a loss in function less than the healthy population up to an increase in lung function (from -20 to more than +20 ml per year). The study also found that a history of smoking did not lead to a greater decline in lung function. But, current smoking was strongly associated with decline in lung function.
→The combination of asthma, a chronic airway disease, and smoking increases the risk of COPD even more.
A person with COPD has damaged alveoli and bronchi. This means they have weakened and ruptured air sacs that are unable to efficiently perform the exchange of gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide). As the disease progresses, damage increases to the air sacs to the point of a person feeling breathless even when
Chronic obstructive disease (COPD) is an irreversible lung disease that comprises emphysema and chronic bronchitis which impedes airflow for normal breathing. Usually, this happens as a result of continual exposure to toxins found in cigarettes. Unfortunately, due to the nature of COPD most people expend an abundant of energy just to breathe. According to St. Florian’s article Nutrition and COPD - Dietary Considerations for Better Breathing (2009) it is stated:
In wild type mouse there is no effect on food intake, body weight and blood glucose though we give more leptin because here the leptin receptors are constant. But, in ob/ob mouse the food intake, body weight and blood glucose levels are decrease because the presence of leptin receptor. However, in the db/db mouse there is no effect due to the absence of the leptin
The researchers obtained 36 female rats that were 5 weeks old. These mice were randomly divided into three diet groups, low sodium (LS), normal sodium (NS) and high sodium (HS). The rats were weighed on a weekly basis for a total of 60 days. By weighing the rats on a weekly basis, the researchers were able to determine that there was no significant difference in weight between the three dietary groups, (figure 1). The main conclusion that one can get from this data is that sodium does not have a large effect on the weight of the rats. Since sodium does not cause the rats to gain a significant amount of weight it can be concluded that the bones of the rats will not develop differently due to them weighing more than normal.