Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

                                                                              Emphysema

 Chronic Bronchitis

Introduction

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease also know as COPD, is chronic debilitating disease of your lungs. The condition is characterized by difficulty in your breathing associated with constant cough productive of thick mucus. It is caused most commonly by smoking and continues to progress in severity with more and more difficulty in your breathing ability and reduction in lung capacity. Chronic bronchitis and emphysema are two condition which mainly come under same definition of COPD, along with asthma. The common feature is reduced oxygen intake and carbon dioxide expulsion. This makes you  breathless or short of breath most of the time.

In chronic bronchitis there is distortion of your bronchial passages.Whereas in emphysema the alveoli of your lungs are enlarged with loss of their expandable quality. Other than smoking, your exposure to any irritant dust, chemicals can cause such damage leading to COPD. The damage to your lung tissues in both condition, chronic bronchitis and emphysema is irreversible. But if the insulting or the causative irritant is removed, further damage can be controlled. You may develop features of chronic bronchitis and emphysema at same time, if you continue smoking for longer duration.

Ÿ  Incidence; COPD worldwide is 4^th most common cause of death. Whereas in US alone ,it is 3^rd most common cause of death in both males and females. An estimated 16 million individuals are presently effected in US with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is mostly encountered in smokers of 60 years and above age.

Ÿ  About $33 billions have been spend on healthcare of patients with COPD in US. More females are hospitalized than males due to this debilitating pulmonary disease.

-           Major symptoms that may effect you in COPD are, long standing cough with thick productive sputum, increasing difficulty in your breathing efforts, which is more marked when you indulge in exercise. With progress of COPD even exertion of simple nature like changing cloths or cooking. You may start loosing weight.

Causes and Risk factors

The principal/major cause of your COPD is extended or long term exposure to smoke or smoking. If you are involved in occupation which exposes you to irritant dust or fumes, you will have changes in your bronchial passages and smaller airways. These will lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The conditions of chronic bronchitis, chronic asthma and emphysema are grouped as COPD. They may co-exist in same individual. The morphological changes in your lungs, caused by smoking or getting exposed to second or passive smoke or chemical fumes are, loss of elasticity of your airways(bronchi) and air sacs (alveoli). Air  passages get swollen and inflamed filled with mucus, walls between air sacs are destroyed with loss of surface area of ventilation. These all will lead to reduction in oxygen intake and exertional effort for breathing to compensate.

Ÿ  Chronic bronchitis with or without asthma may lead to narrowing of your bronchial passages. This condition is further aggravated by excessive secretion of mucus due inflammation caused by smoke and other irritants reaching your airways. Asthma ,if it is not well controlled may lead to COPD with remodeling of lung tissues. Although the precise mechanism in both condition is quite different. In COPD, there is more of neutrophilic reaction involved, whereas asthma is characterized by eosinophilic response. Wheezing is common in both the conditions. The major difference between asthma and chronic bronchitis causing COPD is, the reversible narrowing of airways in your asthma.

Ÿ  Emphysema is another condition causing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Your lungs exposed for years to smoking or secondary smoke cause damage to smaller air sacs called alveoli in your lungs. Walls separating adjacent alveoli breaks down due to inflammatory damage and accompanying cough. Larger sacs are created which trap the air in them. The loss of exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide results in your breathlessness. This situation over period of time becomes severe and irreversible. Your smoking and other irritants cause activation of macrophages in your alveolar cells. The macrophage response causes neutrophilic chemotactic factors release. Which in turn release protease, that breaks down alveolar tissue, resulting in your emphysema.

Risk factors

Your chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is one of world’s top five leading cause of death. The most difficult aspect of getting this debilitating illness treated early is, its slow and camouflage (hidden) progress to severity. With this fact in consideration the risk factors may guide in  preventing your ongoing lung insult and progress to COPD.

Ÿ  Smoking is one major risk for your respiratory handicap due to chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and chronic asthma (COPD). The earlier you start smoking and longer you have continued, is a major determinant risk for COPD. Even as passive smoker, how long you have been exposed to second smoke will put you in risk for either one of COPD variants. In as much as 80% to 85% of diagnosed COPD effected individuals, smoking is sole causative factor found. The number of cigarettes you smoke daily also determines your severity of COPD. In addition to cigarettes, cigar, pipes, and marijuana also increase the risk in your lung disability due to COPD.

Ÿ  Pollutant exposure will also play risk factor for COPD. If place of your work or residence is close to industrial unit’s the fumes and dust will increase your COPD risk. Exposure to biomass fuel in cooking enhances your chances for COPD development greatly if care is not taken.

Ÿ  Genetics may also make you more susceptible to get any of COPD conditions. COPD runs in families who have shown deficiency in a-anti-trypsin deficiency. This enzyme factor is produced by liver and it protects your lungs from damaging effect protease enzyme. Its deficiency may cause alveolar wall destruction specially in smokers, resulting in emphysema. When you have any of first blood relative with COPD, your smoking adds to greater risk.

Ÿ  Gender risk now has shifted towards females in COPD occurrence. Women are now shown to be more effected by negative influences of smoking on their lungs than men.

Ÿ  Lower socioeconomic status is more risk for development of COPD for obvious reasons. Lack of safety measure during using biomass fuel cooking methods, failure of early treatment of chronic respiratory illness. All will contribute to COPD at later age of life.

Ÿ  Preterm birth history means that after birth you must have received oxygen therapy. This method of artificial oxygenation will damage your lungs and increase COPD at advance age of your life.

Ÿ  Asthma has been linked to COPD, as it may cause permanent bronchial restriction to breathing. This may result if you are non-compliant to treatment and preventive measures.