Signs and Symptoms

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the whole family may be breathing uneasily because you don’t know what to expect in terms of prognosis. The two most common forms of COPD are chronic bronchitis, in which the airways leading to the lungs become inflamed and partially blocked with excess mucus, and emphysema, in which the air sacs in the lungs are damaged and trap air. As a result, less air gets into the lungs, which can lead to difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, weakness, exhaustion, weight loss, and bluish lips and skin. You also may get frequent colds or chest infections. Many people with COPD have a combination of chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and some may also have asthma.

Treatment

COPD cannot be cured but it can be managed, especially if treatment is started before the disease reaches an advanced state. Your doctor and the team at VNSNY can help you improve your symptoms, slow the disease’s damage to your lungs, and lead a more active life. This usually involves:

• Quitting smoking (the leading cause of COPD) and avoiding secondhand smoke, to slow the progression of COPD and improve your health
• Taking long-term and quick-acting medications (including using an inhaler properly), and monitoring the effects of these interventions
• Modifying your environment to eliminate possible lung irritants and prevent flare-ups of breathing problems
• Making appropriate changes to your diet, exercise, and stress-management habits, as recommended by your doctor

Combining these approaches is likely to give you much better results than if you were to rely on one exclusively, especially since COPD is a progressive, long-term disease. 

Staying Well

By following your doctor’s treatment regimen, you can manage your symptoms, slow the disease’s progression, prevent complications (such as respiratory infections, malnutrition, and depression), and enhance the quality of your life and health.

The goal: To feel and function at your best, given your condition. Once your treatment is launched, your doctor will want to see you regularly to find out how well the medications you’re taking and the lifestyle modifications you’ve made are relieving your breathing troubles. To that end, your doctor will likely measure how well your lungs are functioning through spirometry, a simple breathing test that gauges how much air a person’s lungs can hold and the speed of inhalations and exhalations; your doctor also may order a chest X-ray or CT scan, if symptoms worsen.