You’ve probably seen the commercials—under-inflated balloons, wheezy wolves, an elephant sitting on some poor schmuck’s chest—but what is COPD? And why does it make it hard to breathe?
COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (meaning a continuous disease that blocks up the lungs) but it actually consists of two component diseases. Those with COPD actually suffer from chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both. COPD gets worse over time, making it harder and harder to breathe and eventually leads to disability in many. If the disease progresses too far, death is a result, and because there is no cure, this has led COPD to become the third leading cause of death in the U.S.
COPD affects different parts of the lungs: either the bronchial tubes (the airways) and/or the alveoli (tiny air sacs responsible for putting oxygen into the blood). The most common way to develop COPD is through smoking cigarettes, although long-term exposure to other lung irritants (like pollution, dust, or chemical fumes) may also contribute to its development.
These various lung irritants can cause damage in two different ways. First, they can cause the airways to become irritated and inflamed, causing the lining of the airways to thicken and causing mucus to be produced. A tighter airway makes it physically harder to breathe air in, which is, in fact, the definition of chronic bronchitis, one of the two possible component diseases.
In emphysema, the air sacs themselves are damaged, causing them to become floppy or even destroying them entirely. This means that there are fewer parts of the lungs giving air to the body, making each breath less efficient.
COPD is a progressive disease, so at first you many have no symptoms. Over time, however, people with COPD often develop mucus-producing coughs, shortness of breath, wheezing, and a sensation of tightness in the chest. While there is no cure, there are treatments to lessen the severity of symptoms, ranging from medications, oxygen therapy, and lung transplants to simply avoid the lung irritant in the first place. There are many clinical trials that may offer treatment through new or unusual methods, and a list can be found here.
Comments