Airways become blocked with COPD

Jill Ramsey, Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Department
Ball Memorial Hospital

Q. What is COPD?
A. COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. COPD is a serious lung disease that over time affects your breathing. With COPD, your airways become partially blocked making it hard to get air in and out of your lungs. You might have heard COPD called different names like emphysema or chronic bronchitis. Simple daily activities can become hard to do (like bathing, dressing, and cooking) once the disease has progressed to the severe stage. COPD is now the 4th leading cause of death in the United States even though COPD often goes undiagnosed. All it takes is a simple breathing test at your doctor’s office.

Q. What are the risk factors?
A. Some of the things that put you at risk for COPD are:

Smoking.

The number one cause of COPD is smoking either current or past. Smoking accounts for 9 out of 10 COPD related deaths. More and more studies
are showing that second hand smoke can also be dangerous.

Environmental exposure:
People who have worked in and around things that can irritate your lungs can also have COPD. That can include dust, chemical, fumes or asbestos.

Genetic factors:
In some cases COPD can be caused by a genetic condition called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AAT). Not very many people realize they have AAT.
These cases get COPD even though they have never smoked or been exposed to harmful pollutants.

Q. What are the symptoms of COPD?
A. Some of the more common symptoms of COPD that you can look for are:

• coughing a lot especially in the morning, sometimes called a “smokers cough”
• coughing up excess phlegm
• not being able to take a deep breath
• feeling like you can’t breath
• wheezing ( a high pitched noise when you breath in or out)
• being short of breath when doing your daily activities, like bathing, getting dressed, walking or light housework.

Q. What can I do to help the symptoms of COPD?
A. Quit smoking. The best thing you can do for yourself is to quit smoking. Once you have quit you will stop damaging your lungs. If you need help in quitting, ask your doctor about smoking cessation aids.

Avoid pollutants. Dust, strong fumes and cigarette smoke can irritate your lungs so stay away from them as much as possible

Make regular visits to your doctor. Let him know if you are feeling more short of breath or unable to do certain activities now because of shortness of breath. Taking the medications that your doctor prescribes for your shortness of breath will help lessen the effects of COPD.

Jill Ramsey works in the Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation department at Ball Memorial Hospital. She can be reached at (765) 747-3773 or info@chsmail.org.

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