WHAT IS COPD DISEASE? WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or simply known as COPD, is a disease that negatively affects a person’s quality of life and has no definitive treatment. COPD is known as a long-term disease.
COPD, a chronic disease that causes shortness of breath along with emphysema and chronic bronchitis, can cause death if left untreated. Emphysema is a disease that occurs with the deformation of the air sacs that carry oxygen to the blood.
Chronic bronchitis is a disease that occurs when a person suffers from a cough with phlegm that lasts for at least 3 months for two consecutive years. These two problems bring COPD together, causing the beginning of a process that negatively affects the person’s quality of life.
COPD must be kept under control and its progression must be prevented. People with COPD are considered to be at risk for lung cancer and heart diseases.
WHY DOES COPD OCCUR?
Smoking, exposure to air pollution, long-term passive smoking, especially since the lung development period, exposure to harmful gases and chemicals, and having to inhale these substances due to occupation.
COPD SYMPTOMS
Generally speaking, COPD symptoms can be similar to all respiratory diseases. Cough, phlegm, shortness of breath, wheezing, congestion in the chest area, and decreased oxygen levels in the blood are among the most common symptoms of this disease.Some people may also experience swelling in their feet and heart failure due to COPD. COPD symptoms may not appear for long periods of time. This disease, which usually occurs suddenly along with a disease such as bronchitis or pneumonia, can also be confused with asthma.
COPD TREATMENT
In the treatment of COPD, it is essential to reduce the symptoms and slow the progression of the disease. Unfortunately, there is no treatment today that will help completely eliminate COPD. However, it is possible to prevent the disease or relieve its symptoms.
In the treatment of COPD, the first thing the person should do is quit smoking. It is not possible to eliminate the symptoms of COPD in an environment where smoking is not stopped or passive smoking continues.
Staying away from humid environments, going for regular check-ups, doing light exercises, eating healthy, taking precautions against upper respiratory tract diseases, getting a pneumonia vaccine and flu vaccine are among the precautions that can be taken to prevent the progression of COPD symptoms.
For the treatment of very severe COPD disease, where there is a decrease in the oxygen level in the blood, oxygen therapy must be started. Respiratory rehabilitation, flu and pneumonia vaccines, physical therapy, respiratory support devices and surgical intervention are other treatment methods we use for COPD.
Staying away from humid environments, going for regular check-ups, doing light exercises, eating healthy, taking precautions against upper respiratory tract diseases, getting a pneumonia vaccine and flu vaccine are among the precautions that can be taken to prevent the progression of COPD symptoms.