COPD: A Suffocating Disease

COPD: most of us know someone who has COPD, or have it ourselves. The most noticeable symptom is the cough; which occurs, all day and all night. Nurses working the night shift can easily identify where the COPD patients are located, as they hear them coughing: a very productive, wet type of cough. A suffocating type of cough, and indeed, that is what is occurring. These patients are slowly suffocating as their COPD progresses. So what exactly is COPD?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disease in which the lungs are damaged, making it hard to breathe. In COPD, the airways—the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs—are partly obstructed, making it difficult to get air in and out.

Cigarette smoking is the most common cause of COPD. Most people with COPD are smokers or former smokers. Breathing in other kinds of lung irritants, like pollution, dust, or chemicals, over a long period of time may also cause or contribute to COPD.

The airways branch out like an upside-down tree, and at the end of each branch are many small, balloon-like air sacs called alveoli (al-VEE-uhl-EYE). In healthy people, each airway is clear and open. The air sacs are small and dainty, and both the airways and air sacs are elastic and springy. When you breathe in, each air sac fills up with air like a small balloon; when you breathe out, the balloon deflates and the air goes out. In COPD, the airways and air sacs lose their shape and become floppy. Less air gets in and less air goes out because:

• The airways and air sacs lose their elasticity (like an old rubber band).

• The walls between many of the air sacs are destroyed.

• The walls of the airways become thick and inflamed (swollen).

• Cells in the airways make more mucus (sputum) than usual, which tends to clog the airways.
COPD

COPD develops slowly, and it may be many years before you notice symptoms like feeling short of breath. Most of the time, COPD is diagnosed in middle-aged or older people.

COPD is a major cause of death and illness, and it is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and throughout the world.
If your loved one has COPD, remember: COPD is not contagious—you cannot catch it from someone else. The patient needs all the love and TLC they can get; love is relaxing, and will relieve the anxiety which comes from not being able to breathe. And, if you are the one who has COPD, stop smoking, if you already haven’t. Stay away from other pollutions which may be making your disease worse. There is no cure for COPD. The damage to your airways and lungs cannot be reversed, but there are things you can do to feel better and slow the damage.