Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, is a condition of the lungs caused by inflammation of the bronchi and a rupture of the alveoli that causes the progressive deterioration of lung function, so that the patient may have difficulty breathing and little by little little, with the passage of time, you can feel more suffocated and even see yourself limited to carry out some activities; other symptoms are coughing and sometimes wheezing.
Risk factor’s
The main risk factor for COPD is cigarette smoking or smoking. Likewise, people exposed for a long time to secondhand smoke, which is generated by a smoker with whom it is frequently shared, to biomass smoke produced when cooking with firewood, are at risk; to inhalant chemicals or certain types of dust characteristic of mining or marble work
Prevention
Prevention is the most important thing and the best way to prevent it is to avoid smoking. In times of pandemic, patients with COPD are the ones who need to take care of themselves the most because they have a higher risk of developing severe pneumonia, not only due to Covid-19 but also due to any other type of respiratory infection, so it is vital that they have annual vaccination against influenza, pneumococcus and when a Covid-19 vaccine is available, too.
How to differentiate COPD from other respiratory diseases?
There are hundreds of respiratory diseases and they all produce similar symptoms cough, respiratory distress, among them are chronic infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, asthma, pulmonary fibrosis or tumors and the only way to differentiate one from another is to consult the doctor to to perform an adequate physical examination and the studies required according to the patient.
Is COPD associated with other diseases?
Since most of these patients were smokers, they may have other pathologies associated with cigarette smoking, such as heart disease, obstructive arterial disease in the legs, cerebrovascular events, or lung cancer. This does not mean that COPD causes lung cancer. what does imply an important risk factor for it is smoking. Thus, any person who has been a smoker for a long time and in a significant amount should be checked by their doctor to find out if they have COPD, even without presenting symptoms, as well as to find out if they are a candidate for a screening test -Tomography of low dose of radiation – which is better in these cases than a simple chest X-ray. But only the doctor can determine if he is a candidate for this type of study, since this is only indicated for the smoking patient because it can somehow quantify what the risk factor was, how many cigarettes he smoked and for how many years, based on that number of cigarettes, the risk is calculated and according to that said risk, a tomography is ordered.
The figures in Colombia
At present the prevalence that we have in COPD is 10% and it is closely related to the cigarette consumption that we have in the country. It is of the utmost importance that people stop smoking, not only to prevent diseases such as COPD or lung cancer, but also Covid-19 pneumonia.
5 points to keep in mind
- In prevention, the most important thing is not to smoke.
- Go to the doctor.
- Diagnosis using spirometry to measure lung function.
- Main treatment: inhaled therapy and lung transplant only in extreme cases.
- Prevent exacerbations through vaccination.