Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
What is COPD?
Patients diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are chiefly patients having one of two diseases: emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Both of the aforementioned diseases can cause the patient to develop chronic obstruction of air flow within the respiratory system. It is at this point that these patients share the diagnosis of COPD. Some asthma patients have also been diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Occasionally, frequent asthmatic inflammation leads to scarring. This scarring becomes a permanent obstruction to air flow and thus is deemed COPD. What makes COPD so serious is that it is the result of damage to the lungs and airways and the damage is typically irreversible. In fact, COPD can get progressively worse over time. While that is what is likely to occur, it is not a steadfast rule. In some cases Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease patients have partially improved their condition through medications that asthma sufferers use to enlarge or dilate their airways. The following scientific information provides answers to the question of what is COPD.
What is Happening in the Lungs?
Your lungs transfer oxygen from the air that you breathe into your blood. They also remove carbon dioxide from your blood into the air that you exhale. Your lungs accomplish this task through their two primary components, which are airways and alveoli. Your airways are passages that extend out like webs and allow air to move in and out of your lungs. The airways are comprised of large segments going down your throat and leading into your chest which are called trachea. Then the larger segments split into two bronchi with one leading into the left lung and one leading into the right lung. The smaller branches reaching out into the lung are called the bronchioles. Located at the ends of the bronchioles are thin sacks which are called alveoli. You can think of the bronchi as arms, the bronchioles are fingers spreading out and the alveoli as your fingertips. Your blood vessels are spread across the walls of your alveoli. Within these blood vessels oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange is occurring.
When you inhale, your chest expands as the muscles of your diaphragm and ribcage contract. This causes negative pressure within the alveoli and airways. This pressure pulls air from the airways into the alveoli. When you exhale, the opposite is true. Your muscles relax which creates positive pressure. That pressure pushes air out of the alveoli, into the airways and out of the lungs. Unfortunately, your bronchioles are extremely weak. These tiny tubes that allow airflow to the alveoli can collapse, usually during exhalation. These fragile tubes are kept open for airflow by the elasticity of your lungs. The sources of this elasticity are elastic fibers that cover the airways and the alveoli so that they are protected through the process of breathing (expanding and contracting). When your lungs are damaged, they lose elasticity. This can causes your bronchioles to collapse and block the flow or air.
Emphysema
Emphysema is a disease in which irreversible lung damage has occurred. This damage comes in the form of the destruction of the walls between alveoli which have led to permanent enlargement of the alveoli. Much of the elasticity of your lungs is due to fibers in the lining of the walls of the alveoli. Once these fibers have been damaged, your lungs are less elastic. Loss of elasticity leads to bronchioles collapsing which will block the airflow to the alveoli. When this happens, air becomes trapped in the alveoli. This trapped air prevents your lungs from shrinking back to a place of rest when you exhale. This, in turn, will inhibit chest expansion when you inhale and that limits the amount of air that you are getting into your lungs with each breath. Also, the blood vessels that move oxygen from the air into your blood and also move carbon dioxide from your blood into the air are located in the walls of your alveoli. If you damage these walls, you are decreasing the number of blood vessels that you have to do this work. This decrease will make breathing more difficult and less efficient.
Chronic Bronchitis
Chronic bronchitis is diagnosed when chronic inflammation of your airways has caused your airways to become narrowed or obstructed. This chronic inflammation also triggers mucous production which exacerbates airway obstruction. Airway obstruction expounded by mucous increases the likelihood of bacterial based lung infections.
COPD Causes
90% of the occurrences of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in the United States are due to smoking. While not all smokers will develop COPD and not all patients with COPD are smokers (since some COPD patients are asthmatics), the likelihood of getting COPD is greatly increased by smoking. If you are a smoker, you have a 15% chance of being diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Cigarette smoke damages your lungs. It breaks down the elastic fibers in your lungs and promotes inflammation, both of which can lead to lung damage.
Another cause of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is an alph-1 antitrypsin deficiency. The protein alph-1 antitrypsin is produced by your liver and released into your blood. An enzyme known as elastase found in normal lungs can break down the elastic fibers in your lungs which will damage your airways and alveoli. The production of elastase is heightened in smokers. Alph-1 antitrypsin can block the damaging effects of elastase on the elastic fibers in your lungs. If you suffer from an alph-1 antitrypsin deficiency, elastase will be able to breakdown the elastic fibers in your lungs with nothing to inhibit it. This is a rare condition.
COPD Symptoms
The major Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease symptoms are:
- Chronic coughing
- Shortness of breath
- Mucous production
- Chest infections
- Wheezing
Some of these symptoms are linked. Respiratory infections can cause coughing, the production of mucous and fevers. In advanced cases of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, weight loss can occur because of the added energy needed simply to breathe. Additionally, in advanced COPD some of the blood vessels within the lungs are destroyed. This blocks the flow of air forcing the heart to pump harder to increase the pressure which will get blood flowing through the lungs. In some cases the heart cannot muster the strength needed to create this extra pressure. The heart becomes too stressed because of the extra work and this leads to Cor pulmonale. Cor pulmonale is right heart failure which is signaled by a swelling in the feet and ankles. Hemoptysis is also an advanced symptom of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. This is the coughing up of blood. Hemoptysis may also be a sign of lung cancer. If you exhibit any combination of the above mentioned symptoms, please see your doctor immediately and discuss the possibility of COPD.
COPD Treatment and Solutions
While this is typically an irreversible and degenerative disease, there are avenues that those of you suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease can explore to provide temporary comfort and relief. One of those avenues is a HEPA air purifier. While the central problem exists inside your body, external factors can make breathing more difficult for you. There is a myriad of particulates in the air that can irritate your already sensitive and fragile lungs. Cleansing your air of these harmful particulates is a step in the right direction toward increased ease of breathing and a decrease in chest, airway and lung irritation or obstruction. To benefit from the full potential of an air purifier, you need to make sure that it has a HEPA filter accompanied by an activated carbon filter, such as the air purifiers found at Clean Air Plus. Trusted brands like IQAir make sure that their filtration systems are the best on the market. A purifier like the IQAir HealthPro Plus offers a proven solution to the task of removing airborne allergens and irritants from the air you and your family breathe which will allow those with breathing complications to breathe a bit easier. By combining a medical grade HEPA filter with 5 pounds of activated carbon and zeolite, this incredible purification system removes 99.97% of lung damaging dust particles, pet dander, pollen, mold spores, bacteria, germs, viruses, tobacco smoke, chemicals, and odors. All of these harmful irritants make breathing more work but by attacking a few of the external problems at the source, you can make the internal process as simple and pure as it can get.
The IQAir HealthPro Plus is convenient and easy to use. It is mounted on casters to allow for ease of movement and inconspicuous placement. The IQAir HealthPro Plus is also energy efficient and, best of all, it is a natural solution to your health complications. The HealthPro Plus comes with a 5 year warranty (including the filters) and ships next business day. This air purifier is one in a line of natural solutions to everyday problems. Purifying your air is one step in the battle for comfort, peace of mind and COPD treatment. Control what you can in order to achieve the best health possible. Take your home and work environments into your own hands and demand safe and irritant free air. You deserve clean air and so do your lungs.