COPD Treatment, Causes, Types, Symptoms, Medication And Facts

COPD is an irreversible disease with no cure. However, using a variety of treatment options, the goal of COPD management should be to improve quality of daily living by relieving symptoms, recurrence of flare-ups, and slowing the rapid advancement of the stages in this progressive disease.

Giving Up Smoking:

The most important therapeutic intervention remains immediate cessation of smoking. Seeking help and information from your pulmunologist can help decide on various methods like nicotine replacement aids, transdermal nicotine patches, chewing pieces and other relaxation techniques that help with quitting smoking. Though damage caused to the lungs by smoking in COPD is not reversible, quitting smoking helps with halting further damage.

Other treatments for COPD may include medicines, vaccines, pulmonary rehabilitation programs, oxygen therapy and surgery in very advanced stages of COPD.

Medicines – Bronchodilators
Medications used to primarily relax muscles affected by airway constriction are called Bronchodilators. They help ease breathing, control occurrences of flare-ups, combat inflammation and bacterial infections. These medicines may be administered using a device such as a metered dose inhaler, dry powder inhaler or nebulizer. Often a combination of different types of medications falling under bronchodilators such as pills, tablets, or IV is used by doctors.
Beta-Agonists

Short-acting beta-agonists are used when symptoms are episodic as when exercising. They are also used when shortness of breath starts as a pre-cursor to a full-blown attack, effectively preventing it. Long-acting beta-agonists are used to treat daily symptoms that last over 12 hours.

Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors

Methylxanthines or theophyllines are used to improve diaphragm muscle contractility and stimulate the respiratory center.

Inhaled Glucocorticosteroids (Steroids)
Inhaled steroids are normally used in moderate or severe COPD to reduce airway inflammation. Normally, they are used in patients of COPD for a trial period of about 6 weeks to 3 months only. They are believed to be less effective in the treatment of COPD than with other diseases they are used for.
Mucolytic Agents

These agents reduce sputum viscosity and improve secretion clearance as cough associated with excessive mucus is one of the earliest symptoms that continues to advanced stages of the disease also.
Oxygen Therapy

COPD commonly is associated with low levels of oxygen in blood. Oxygen stored in a portable tank is administered to the patient through a flexible nasal tube or face mask . Oxygen administration reduces mortality rates in patients with advanced COPD because of the favorable effects on pulmonary health.

Surgical Options
When advanced COPD has resulted in significant lung damage surgery may be suitable. Bullectomy is advised in cases where spirometric breathing tests show poor lung function. This procedure removes air spaces that sometimes form when air sacks break and interfere with breathing.

• Bullectomy is advised in cases where spirometric breathing tests show poor lung function. This procedure removes air spaces that sometimes form when air sacks break and interfere with breathing.
• Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) is a procedure to remove sections of damaged lung tissue.
• Lung transplant is undertaken in very severe cases of COPD to replace a diseased lung with a healthy donor lung.

Other Lifestyle Changes
Along with the above treatments, patients would be well advised to follow a pulmonary rehabilitation program that gives a holistic approach including but not limited to nutrition advice, breathing exercises and other types of exercises for COPD patients. As infections such as flu and influenza worsen COPD, annual flu and influenza shots are a must.

Shortness of breath is a characteristic symptom for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A major cause of breathlessness in COPD is hyperinflation of the lungs due to air trapping, which happens mainly due to airflow limitation. Breathlessness and the inability to engage in normal activity are the most distressing symptoms that COPD patients deal with. Starting early treatment and learning breathing and relaxation techniques are vital to coping with sudden bouts of breathlessness.

Anxiety and COPD

Breathlessness during COPD flare-ups is severe and is a cause for anxiety for COPD patients even when they are not in the middle of such an episode.
Understanding how the body reacts to stress and anxiety is very important. Panic and anxiety make the muscles in the body tighten which makes breathing even harder. This is precisely why patients and their caregivers need to learn to stay calm when they sense the coming of an attack, normally referred to as COPD exacerbation. As patients sense or find themselves in an episode of exacerbation, they panic causing their breathing to quicken. This is counter-productive and puts added stress on the respiratory system making it work harder.

Breathing Techniques

Learning to stay calm during flare-ups and actually slowing down breathing will have a calming effect. One can restore the regular pattern of breathing faster by learning breathing techniques such as pursed lip breathing. Here the patient inhales air through the nose and then gradually lets out the air through pursed lips, while keeping the mouth nearly shut. This forces air to stay longer in the body and opens up airways that much longer. Using this technique at least 10 times when a patient begins to feel breathlessness or stress can slow down breathing. Breathlessness tends to cause stress and stress seems to cause breathlessness too. So practicing pursed lip breathing several times through the day can keep panic away that worsens COPD symptoms.

Visualization Techniques

The power of suggestion is known to be very strong. Thoughts of stress bring on stress. Visualization is a relaxation technique where a person retires to a quiet place, isolates all disturbing sounds and very often darkens the room or lies with eyes closed. The entire body is then relaxed by focusing on each part. Then you lead your mind through peaceful images and enliven the scene in the mind with sounds that accompany the scene in reality. For instance, you think of a stream of water and then the green grass around it, the trees chirping in the trees, the gentle gurgling of water and the sweet smell of soil and water mixing together. Conjuring up such images works for many people and they experience immediate relaxation. Some use classical music, yoga and tai chi to that effect.

Recovering from Flare-ups

Remember to use whatever works for you during and after an episode of breathlessness. It is important to lay still for a minimum of five to ten minutes after a bout to help the body restore normal breathing. Do not be in a rush to get up and start normal activity.

All of these techniques should be used alongside prescribed medications and therapy. They are not a replacement for conventional medication.

If you are a COPD patient, or a caregiver to someone who has COPD, there are many COPD medications that greatly improve management of COPD symptoms and intermittent flare-ups. Here is a list of common COPD medications that are likely to be prescribed to the COPD patient:

1. Bronchodilators
COPD patients are often prescribed medications called bronchodilators. Bronchodilators make it easier to breathe in COPD patients who suffer from shortness of breath. It works by relaxing and expanding the smooth muscle of the airways. Types of bronchodilators used in the treatment will depend upon the stage and severity of COPD symptoms. Short-acting bronchodilators like anticholinergics such as ipratropium and beta2-agonists such as albuterol and levalbuterol are used for intermittent COPD symptomatic treatment. A combination of the two may also be used.

Short acting beta-agonists are used to treat shortness of breath that comes and goes on and off. They are effective in the treatment of symptoms that last for a short period of time. Long acting beta-agonists are used to treat symptoms that last say the entire night or over 12 hours.

2. Corticosteroids
If you have COPD, your doctor may have prescribed Corticosteroids like prednisone as part of your COPD treatment plan. Though these steroids have many benefits, they also have serious risks and side effects. They are particularly useful in the treatment of flare-ups or COPD exacerbations when all symptoms are greatly worse and threaten severe
breathing problems.

3. Oxygen Therapy
Lung and airways damage in COPD patients gives their blood less oxygen than necessary for organs to function properly. Doctors suggest oxygen therapy to infuse more oxygen into the lungs. Patients often use an oxygen tank at home to inhale their required dose of oxygen.

4. Metered Dose Inhalers
Metered Dose Inhalers are used to administer a measured dose of medicine directly to the lungs of a COPD patient. Since they are highly effective, it is believed that less dosage amounts than that in a pill could be used for treating symptoms. Nebulizers are also found to work very effectively and are conveniently portable.

5. Methylzanthines are Expectorants
Though these two medication options can be effective, due to the risks associated with them they are being eased out of treatments for COPD.

6. Flu Vaccine
Flu shots will not help to prevent flu, they can also help COPD patients fight off potential exacerbations of symptoms that worsen when they get flu..

7. Pneumonia Vaccine
People with COPD are at greater risk for developing pneumococcal pneumonia, a serious lung infection. Even if you have already had a pneumonia vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control recommends that certain high-risk groups have a second dose. If you are a COPD patient take your doctor’s advice to know if you need another shot.

8. Antibiotics
People with COPD are more prone to bacterial lung infections than most others due to the poor health of their lungs. If you contract a bacterial lung infection, then your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic. Antibiotic therapy may not be used to treat a simple virus but COPD patients with bacterial lung infection may benefit from it.

Most cases of COPD develop over time, after the lungs and airways have suffered irreversible damage over several years and decades, from inhaling irritants with toxic particles and smoke. Cigarette smoking is the most often cause. Since COPD has a clear cause, it also has a clear path to prevention.

Quitting Smoking

If you’ve been a long-time smoker quitting will seem daunting and even impossible. More so, if you have tried several times in the past and failed. But if you’ve been diagnosed with COPD, the single most important thing you can do is to quit smoking immediately. Though there are other things you can do to cope with COPD, they do not compare in significance to what quitting smoking can do to help. Cessation of smoking will slow down the damage to lungs and advancement of the disease. Note that COPD is a progressive disorder that will get worse over time. There is no cure. This is so because the damage that the lungs and the airways, the tubes that carry air from your throat to lungs, suffer permanent damage.

Most smokers are diagnosed with COPD when they are in their early 40’s or 50’s. In many cases, since the patient is in early stage COPD, they do not take professional help. Meanwhile, lung damage progresses. Some smokers with COPD fail to realize how devastating it is on their lungs and persist with their addiction.

Quitting smoking is less intimidating if you speak to your doctor about the many options available today. You may seek the help of a specialist like a Pulmonologist who specifically treats lung and respiratory problems.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) is found to be highly successful to help with quitting smoking. Several NRT products like transdermal patches and chewing gums can be used .Other alternative methods, such as counseling, support groups, hypnotherapy and acupuncture can also be helpful. Educate yourself and discuss with your doctor what might be best for you.

Avoiding Exposure to Pollutants

In some occupations, exposure to chemical fumes and dust is unavoidable. These lung irritants can lead to COPD over several years of exposure. Since this is nearly an everyday health hazard you face, talk to your employers and supervisors about providing the best ways to protect with aids such as a breathing mask. Speak about improving ventilation in the work area.

Timely Vaccinations

Vaccination against viral influenza and pneumonia is strongly recommended in all patients with cardiopulmonary diseases, including COPD.

Dealing with Genetic Risk Factors to COPD
If you have a rare deficiency which causes low levels of the protein alpha1-antitrypsin, stopping smoking is especially important. People who have this protein deficiency should get timely shots of alpha-1 antitrypsin that is obtained from human plasma. It is known to lower their risk for severe COPD.

For infants who are born with low birth weight, many times poor airway function is seen soon after birth. This is another known risk factor for COPD due to airflow obstruction that starts in infancy and continues well into early adulthood. A pulmonologist can advise proper breathing and physical exercises to help with better intake of air.