COPD - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is actually a spectrum of diseases that includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Cigarette smoking is responsible for the vast majority of cases.

With the progressive increase in longevity occurred in the second half of the twentieth century and the huge numbers of smokers, COPD, rare in the past, began to affect large numbers of individuals. In industrialized countries and in certain regions of Brazil, is among the five most frequent diseases.

COPD is an insidious disease that develops in the course of years. Usually begins with mild shortness of breath associated with efforts such as climbing stairs, walking fast or practicing sports. Because the symptoms are mild, usually attributed to fatigue or lack of fitness . Over time, however, dyspnea and becomes more intense efforts arises after shrinking. In advanced stages, shortness of breath is present with the patient at rest and worsens long before the most mundane activities. Bathing in the foot, for example, is impossible; walk into the room, an effort unbearable.

Several studies have shown that the only medical treatment to increase survival of patients with the disease is oxygen. The patient gasping for breath in the nostrils with a catheter connected to the oxygen tube is the classic imagethe disease.

In the early stages, the impairment of pulmonary function may be asymptomatic. Although the "tossinha" the smoker and hypersecretion of mucus can make suspect the disease, symptoms are not mandatory or indicative of greater extent than respiratory impairment. For this reason, to make the diagnosis is essential to assess the ventilatory function by spirometry, a noninvasive test. To accomplish it, the patient blows air from the lungs into a device that measures the parameters associated with the lung capacity.

Spirometry is so necessary for the diagnosis and assessment of severity of COPD, as taking blood pressure is essential for hypertensive patients. Most pulmonologists recommends that all smokers are subjected to this test every year after 45 years of age. Those that are experiencing decline in lung function are on a collision course with the onset of dyspnea on exertion and oxygen dependency. Many experts, however, recommend that everyone who smokes more than ten years would be subject to examination for the diagnosis to be made in the early stages, when damage to the tissues has not yet become irreversible.

Quitting smoking is crucial for the future of those with progressive decline of pulmonary function tests. When this happens in patients with small degree of airway obstruction caused by cigarette smoke, the interruption is associated with immediate improvement in lung function. Rather, we who continue to smoke, as amended, functional tests suffer rapid decline and progressive.

Chewing gum, nicotine patches and antidepressant drugs such as bupropion, associated with behavioral therapies, are very useful for the treatment of nicotine dependence in patients with COPD. Because they are not sniffing, chewing gum and nicotine patches work together to reduce the degree of airway obstruction, even those who can not quit smoking, but substantially reduce the number of cigarettes per day.

All COPD patients should receive an annual dose of influenza vaccine against pneumococcus and another, to prevent the concomitant infectious processes exacerbate the respiratory condition.

Bronchodilators and anticholinergics are given to relieve symptoms associated with production and removal of secretions. The use of cortisone derivatives via inhalation can reduce the frequency of exacerbations of respiratory symptoms, but prolonged use is associated with undesirable effects.

Respiratory physiotherapy techniques of rehabilitation efforts to increase strength and improve the quality of life, but apparently did not prolong survival.

The dependence of the oxygen tank and the inability to walk without assistance often require families of patients with COPD heavy sacrifices, especially in classes where the household budget is limited. As a matter of responsibility, every smoker should bear in mind that nicotine dependence may lead you to become dependent on others for the most trivial tasks.