Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research Papers Examples

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an ailment that gets worse over time leading to hard breathing. It’s the collection of disease in the lung such as chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive airways and emphysema disease. People, who are suffering from COPD, have problems in breathing, predominantly due to the narrowing of the airways that is called airflow obstruction. The OCPD is one of the most common respiratory diseases in the UK; most affected people are with over the age 35year. It affects all people, women and men (Currie, 2009).
There are characteristic symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. First, it increases breathlessness when active. It's symptoms that bother most people, they feel shortness of breath that leads to an individual suffering to use effort to breathe. COPD cause inflammation and narrowing of the airways of the lungs, so as air sacs get damaged permanently; it leads to increasing difficulty in breathing. Second, it leads to persistent cough with phlegm. Chronic cough starts to occur. If it goes for three months, a year or two years with a combination of production of sputum, then it should be chronic bronchitis. In addition, it leads to the frequent chest infections. The effects typically occur in winter, and it can also result to wheezing. Other symptoms of COPD include weight loss, tiredness and fatigue and swollen ankles (N.I.H, 2014).
These are the causes of the chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. First, smoking of cigarette is the primary cause of COPD. The most persons with COPD must be smokers or used to smoke. There is the probability that COPD development increases with the total exposure to smoke. Additionally, women are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of smoke than men. Also, women who smoke during pregnancy may increase the risk of COPD in their child. Second, air pollution; urban air pollution is a contributing factor in exacerbations. Areas with poor outdoor air quality, including that from exhaust gas have the higher rates of causing COPD. Cooking fires in a poorly ventilated place lead to air pollution. Coal-Fueled fire or biomass fuels such as animal dung and wood result in indoor air pollution. Cooking fires is also the one of the most common causes of COPD in developing countries. Third, occupational exposures; prolonged and intense and workplace exposure to chemicals, dusts, and fumes increase the risk of causing COPD in both smokers and nonsmokers. Industries and other sources have been associated, including high levels of dust in gold mining, coal mining, and the cotton textile industry, etc. Also, genetics plays a significant role in the development of COPD. It occurs mostly among relatives of those with COPD who used to smoke than unrelated smokers. In addition, other causes of COPD are poverty; the risk is high for poor people and other factors associated with poverty like malnutrition, air pollutions and many others. Finally, exacerbations; it might result from infections or environmental pollutants or others factors like improper use of medications (Kon, Hansel & Barnes, 2009).
Diagnosis of COPD is as early as possible so that the treatment can be used to try and slow down the lung’s deteriorations. It diagnosed after consultation with the doctor (Hanania & Sharafkhaneh, 2010)
Treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) causes damages in the lungs. Once the damage has already occurred, it cannot be reversed. It can only be slowed down from progression of the disease or reduce the symptoms. One way slowing down the progression of the illness is by stopping cigarette smoking which is very effective. COPD treatment frequently involves relieving the symptoms with medication measures. Patients use inhaler to make breathing easier, and pulmonary rehabilitation can help to increase the amount of physical exercise an individual is capable doing. In addition, surgery is not advisable because it’s only for a small number of people with COPD. There are various side effects that occur after treating COPD. For an individual using dyphylline can experience nausea, headache and stomach upset. Also, it can lead to severe allergic reactions such as rash, difficulty in breathing, tightness in the chest, swelling of the mouth, lips, face or tongue. In addition, it can lead to having blood in the urine, diarrhea, bloody vomiting, fast breathing and many other factors (Barnes, Drazen & Rennard, 2009).
Living with COPD can affect people’s life in several ways, but they can get help to reduce its impacts. Prevention of COPD can get two immunizations, having a healthy living, doing regular exercises and learning breathing techniques can contribute to reducing the symptoms. Also, ensuring that you have taken your medications to reduce COPD symptoms, and there is availability of financial support and advice about relationships and end of life care (Barnes, Drazen & Rennard, 2009).
In conclusion, the main causes and effects of COPD have been explicitly explained. Every individual have a choice to take precaution to avoid further spread of the diseases concerning COPD. In addition, the patient of COPD should also put in place preventive measures to reduce the symptoms as it was described. All people have to know that COPD have no cure neither is reversible.
Figure 1 above shows normal lung and lung with COPD (N.I.H, 2014).

References

Currie, G. (2009). COPD. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
N. I.B. (2014). Chronic Obstractive Pulmonary Diseasese (COPD). U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Retrieved March 23, 2015 From www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/copd.
Lynes, D. (2007). The Management of COPD in Primary and Secondary Care. Cumbria : M&K Update Ltd.
Hanania, N. A. & Sharafkhaneh, A. (2010). COPD: A Guide to Diagnosis and Clinical Management (Respiratory Medicine). Heidelberg: Springer Science & Business Media.
(Kon, O. M., Hansel, T. T., & Barnes, P. J. (2009). Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). location Oxford: Oxford University Press.
(Barnes, P.J., Drazen, J. M., & Rennard, S. I. (2009). Asthma and COPD: Basic Mechanisms and Clinical Management. Massachusetts: Academic Press.