Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

   Have you heard about Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease? It seems like most people haven't, despite that in the United States in the 4th leading cause of death.
   So what is it?
      Chronic: long-standing
      Obstructive: airflow is blocked
      Pulmonary: lungs
      Disease: badness
   Alright, pretty simple. With appropriate treatment, people with COPD can live long lives. But let's get into more detail about what it is.
   Who does it affect?
      Age: Over 40
      Sex: Men > Women
   Generally, people who have COPD smoke. That's about 90% of the time what causes COPD. Also, air pollution and airway hyper-responsiveness can be causes. In less that 1% of the cases, it can be an alpha anti-trypsin deficiency, which is the only known genetic link.
    COPD affects gas exchange so that there is less oxygen in the blood. People who have COPD have breathing difficulties and often bronchitis, which is the buildup of mucus in your airway.
  Here's a few good things to know:
      Air: must go in and out
      Blood: must go round and round
      Oxygen: is a good thing
      CO2: must be just right or it's bad
   If one of these things is messed up, you have a problem.   Some symptoms might be obvious since they're the ones of a smoker. Of course, shortness of breath, cough, chest pain, dizziness, nausea, wheezing, tiredness, tightness in chest, exercise tolerance low, etc. are all signs. Some clinical signs include tar stains between the second or third finger, cyanosis (blue fingers), barrel chest (hyperinflated), tachypnoea (rapid breathing), long expiration, evidence of weight loss, signs of heart failure, pursed lip breathing, crackles in voice, etc. Also, doctors can detect COPD by doing blood tests and CT scanning.
   COPD is sometimes misdiagnosed as asthma. However, they are quite different. Asthma is onset in childhood, and the person does not smoke (or if they do, they shouldn't be). It's associated with allergies, and is episodic. It also is reversible because the elasticity of the lungs is not affected. On the other hand, COPD is onset in adulthood, and the person is generally a smoker. Since the elasticity of the lungs is affected, the condition is irreversible and gradually gets worse.
   It is treatable, just not curable. The first thing a person needs to do is stop smoking, which is the number one thing you can do to improve your health if you're a smoker. If the person has lost weight, it is essential that they achieve a healthy weight. Exercise, reduction of exposure to pollutants, vaccines, steroids, bronchadoliators, antibiotics, home oxygen, and surgery if there's an emergency, are all treatments for COPD.
   In summary:
      COPD = super bad
      Symptoms = those of a smoker
      What you can do to not get it = don't smoke
      What you can do to treat it = stop smoking and go to a doctor
Blog post #1 complete!