Indoor Pollution Unhealthy for COPD Patients

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.

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 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.

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.

COPD is not contagious—you cannot catch it from someone else.
However, environmental concerns are important factors impacting COPD, ranking second only to smoking as a major contributor. Until recently, pollution has largely been thought of as an outdoors factor.

A study now confirms the obvious: indoor pollution is just as toxic as outdoor pollution. Additionally, those households with smokers have a much higher content of toxic small particle pollution. Patients with COPD living in households with smokers have a higher risk of becoming sick, being admitted to the hospital, and dying. This research validates the dangers of passive smoke. The significant others of COPD patients need to be brought into the educational process to enhance the well-being of their loved ones.