Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disease that causes a partially irreversible decrease in airflow in the airways. The relevance of COPD is associated with a serious deterioration in the quality of life of patients, limitation of physical performance, disability.

Causes of lung disease:
The triggering factors for COPD are the inadequate inflammatory response of the lung tissue to irritation with various particles and gases. The result of this interaction is the release of a large amount of bronchial secretions, mucus. An associated infection, a mandatory decrease in local immunity, a deterioration of local blood circulation, the development of a cascade of inflammatory reactions, a change in the ratio in the chemical composition of sputum, its physical properties, a violation of local antioxidant protection (protection against free radicals) and many other causes of lung disease, increase damage to the bronchi, bronchioles , and then the alveoli, in which the breathing process itself is carried out: the enrichment of the blood with oxygen and the removal of carbon dioxide from the blood.
At the same time, the patient experiences a slight cough, shortness of breath, there is a small amount of easily separated sputum.

The main risk factors that multiply the above causes of lung disease are undoubtedly smoking, industrial hazards, hereditary predisposition.

To establish a diagnosis, in addition to collecting typical complaints, identifying a harmful factor, it is necessary to conduct a number of instrumental studies of the functions of external respiration. We talk about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease when the decrease in FEV1 * is less than 80% after inhalation of a bronchodilator from the proper one in combination with a reduced ratio of FEV1 / FVC ** (less than 70%).

Since COPD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_obstructive_pulmonary_disease is a progressive disease, it is very important to start complex treatment as early as possible, which should include lifestyle modulation ((to eliminate the causes of lung disease as much as possible, first of all, to stop smoking), drug therapy, which will help to significantly slow down the development of the disease, in rare cases of surgical treatment, rehabilitation measures.