What is COPD?
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) involves mainly of two related diseases - chronic bronchitis and emphysema. In both diseases, there is chronic obstruction of the flow of air through the airways and out of the lungs, and the obstruction generally is permanent and progressive eventually. It does not include other obstructive diseases such as asthma.
Symptoms of COPD
Normally, after smoking 20 or more cigarettes a day for more than twenty years, patients with COPD develops a chronic cough, shortness of breath (dyspnea) and frequent respiratory infections.
In patients affected mainly by emphysema, shortness of breath may be the major symptom. Dyspnea generally is most evident during increased physical activity, however as emphysema progresses, dyspnea occurs at rest.
In patients with chronic bronchitis with bronchiectasis, chronic cough and sputum production are the major symptoms. The sputum is usually clear and thick. Periodic chest infections can cause fever, dyspnea, coughing, production of purulent (cloudy and discolored) sputum and wheezing. Infections occur more frequently as bronchitis and bronchiectasis progress.
In advanced COPD, patients may develop cyanosis (bluish discoloration of the lips and nail beds) because of a lack of oxygen in blood. They also may develop morning headaches due to an inability to remove carbon dioxide from the blood. Weight loss occurs in some patients, primarily due to the additional energy that is required just to breathe. In advanced COPD, small blood vessels in the lungs are destroyed, and this blocks the flow of blood through the lungs. So, the heart must pump with increased force and pressure to get blood to flow through the lungs. If the heart cannot manage the additional work, heart failure results and leads to swelling of the feet and ankles.
Patients with COPD may cough up blood (hemoptysis)...................
