Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the world. In Poland, the number of patients is estimated at up to 2 million. It is all the more surprising that Poles know so little about this disease. Let's fill the gap - knowledge can save lives.
COPD is one of the most common diseases of the respiratory tract. If left untreated, it gradually leads to disability, and shortens life by even a dozen or so years. COPD can be prevented and medication can significantly improve patients' quality of life.
COPD - how does disease arise
Characteristic is the chronic inflammation of the bronchial tubes combined with emphysema and a reduction in their vital capacity. The disease destroys both the ductal part of the lungs (i.e. the bronchi and bronchioles) and the respiratory part (alveoli). In order to understand the mechanism of the development of this disease, the concept of obstruction should be clarified. In lung disease, it is a narrowing of the bronchial lumen. In COPD, it is irreversible and is caused by chronic bronchitis.
Inflammatory processes at the source of the disease are most often caused by many years of exposure to inhalation of pollutants - cigarette smoke, dust, gases, they are aggravated by frequent respiratory infections, allergy is also a risk factor. A symptom of inflammation in the bronchi is the increased secretion of mucus, resulting in a progressive restriction of air flow through the respiratory tract. In addition, inflammatory cells destroy the lung tissue in the vicinity of the bronchioles - the walls separating tiny alveoli rupture and the so-called emphysema blisters. The result of these processes is a reduction in the capacity and respiratory surface of the lungs, with a consequent reduction in gas exchange in the lungs. And this leads to hypoxia and a gradual decrease in the efficiency of the entire body.
COPD - Late diagnosis
The most common cause of the disease is the addiction to smoking. The first and most characteristic symptom - morning cough with expectoration of mucus - is usually downplayed by smokers as a minor ailment accompanying addiction ("smoker's cough"). Out of breath with exercise is seen as a natural age-related decline in fitness. Often the disease is detected by chance, in the course of other tests. Most patients see a doctor only when the disease progressesthere are other, more disturbing ailments - difficulty breathing, wheezing, tightness in the chest and attacks of breathlessness during exercise. Then, however, the disease is already advanced - when the diagnosis is made at this stage, the patient has usually lost 40% of the respiratory surface of the lungs.
COPD - effective therapy, but…
The key to success in treating COPD is correctly selected and properly used pharmaceuticals. The disease is chronic and in order to hinder its progress and achieve an improvement in he alth, treatment should last practically for the rest of the life. Unfortunately, patients often stop taking medications, weary of difficult treatment regimens or discouraged by the lack of significant improvement in their he alth. After a year, only 30% of patients continue the therapy.
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