We read that Chinese cities are overtaken by pollution.  We know that there are plenty of those sites that exist in the US, too.  All of this pollution makes breathing tough.  It often leads to a progressive disease called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

COPD can be chronic bronchitis or emphysema.  Chronic bronchitis is the condition when one has a persistent cough (one that exists daily) for several months, and recurs often over a year or two.  This is typically related to thickening of the airway walls, making the lumen diameter smaller- and affords the ability of any mucus to block the airway completely. Emphysema (another COPD malady)  involves the breakdown of alveolar (air sac) walls, which makes them larger, trapping air, leaving less oxygen transfer capability to the blood.

The fact is 12 million folks are diagnosed with COPD in the US. It’s the third leading cause of death in the US (120K a year), with the major contributing factor being cigarette smoking.

As stated earlier, COPD is a progressive disease, which means it keeps getting worse and not better.   The longer one suffers from COPD, the harder it becomes to breathe.  One of the best things one can do (beside NOT smoking) is to maintain an exercise regime, but that still does not stop the progression of the disease.  It just makes it easier to live with it.

If one has shortness of breath (dyspnea), the chronic cough mentioned above,  wheezing, or chest tightness, a visit to the doctor is mandatory.  Dyspnea is often recognized by the subject during exercise, but it is just as likely to be seen when taking a brisk walk or even carrying the groceries in from your car.  Blocked airways (either via the thickening of the walls or the obstruction by mucus) is what is manifested as wheezing.

Besides the exercise to let you cope with daily activities, there are medications that can slow the progression of the disease.  One class relaxes the muscles around the airways (stopping dilation); another class precludes airway inflammation in the first place.  Of course, with emphysema (and often with other COPD), supplemental oxygen may be prescribed to insure adequate circulation to the body (blue fingernails is one manifestation of COPD).

Oh, and another thing.  It seems that COPD sufferers are 68% more likely to develop shingles, a painful  disease that results  when the varicella zoster virus (chickenpox) is reactivated.  So, add a shingles vaccine to your things to do, if you suffer from COPD.

One final factor- yes, 12 million folks have been diagnosed with COPD- but there are probably yet another 12 million who are walking around with undiagnosed COPD.  Have those symptoms mentioned above?  Get checked, now!

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