COPD - Definition, Symptoms, Diagnosis And Treatment

What does COPD mean? COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It encompasses two types of disease processes namely chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Quite often, people who suffer from COPD show a combination of features of both disease processes. In lay person's term, COPD means persistent lung disease with features of airway narrowing. To be more specific, bronchitis means inflammation of the bronchi or the larger airways of the lungs whereas emphysema means destruction to the smaller airways and alveoli or airsacs of the lungs. Thus COPD is commonly used to describe chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both.

Is COPD a common condition? It is one of the commonest conditions that require hospital admission during period of flare-ups. According to one epidemiology study in the US, approximately eight million people have chronic bronchitis whereas 2 million people have emphysema. As we can see, chronic bronchitis is more common than emphysema.

What are the causes of COPD? Smoking. Smoking is the number 1 cause of COPD. More than 90 percent of COPDs are caused by smoking, cigarette or otherwise. About 30 percent of long term smokers will eventually show symptoms of COPD of varying degrees. Other causes include air pollution and inherited enzyme deficiency namely alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

How does smoking cause COPD? Smoking inadvertently damages the lining of the airways. As with any other part of the body in response to injury, inflammation occurs. Inflammation stimulates the damaged lining to secrete mucus in an abnormal amount and also causes the airway to constrict (narrow).

What are the symptoms of COPD? The two main symptoms are cough and breathlessness. COPD sufferers commonly complain about breathlessness and cough that develop gradually over a long period of time. The cough that COPD sufferer gets are usually productive which means they commonly cough up phlegm. The cough usually comes and goes initially but tends to become persistent as time passes. Breathlessness is usually intermittent and only occurs with exertion in the beginning, however if you continue to smoke, the breathlessness persists even when you are at rest, this can be quite distressing! Other symptoms are chronic sputum production, where you constantly cough up phlegm all day and recurrent chest infection. People with COPD are more prone to chest infection for obvious reasons, as the lining in the lung looses its normal defense mechanism against intruding bugs.

COPD sounds like asthma, are they any different? Yes. Both COPD and asthma cause similar symptoms, however, they are different in certain ways. COPD causes permanent damage to the airways. The obstruction is 'fixed', hence it is irreversible in general terms. However, airway narrowing in asthma is intermittent and reverses quite easily with medication. Having said that, both COPD and asthma is common, people who suffer COPD can have an asthmatic component and vice versa.

What tests are needed to diagnose COPD? A test called spirometry is often performed to diagnose COPD. Bronchodilators (drugs that cause the airway to dilate) are usually added to confirm the diagnosis. If the test result does not show improvement with bronchodilators, then COPD is very likely.

What are the treatments of COPD? First of all. Stop smoking. This cannot be stressed enough. Smoking cessation is the first thing you have to do if you want to get better. As the underlying mechanism of COPD is irreversible, medications are used with an aim to slow down it's progress. Drugs that are commonly used to treat COPD include short-acting bronchodilator inhalers (i.e. salbutamol), long-acting bronchodilator inhalers (i.e. tiotropium), steroid inhalers and tablets are all available drugs for treatment of COPD. Again, no treatment is more important that stop smoking. Lung transplant is the last option and should be reserved for people with severe COPD.

Asthma Home Remedies - Six Different Ways to Relieve Asthma

Many people who suffer from asthma have a difficult time finding anything that cures or even helps their asthma. For many of these people, one or more than one of the many known asthma home remedies below would help.

Hot Black Coffee

Drinking hot black coffee actually solves two problems at the same time.

The caffeine in the coffee helps open-up the airways in your lungs. This makes it easier for the air to pass in and out.

Then the heat of the coffee helps break-up the mucus in your lungs. Often the lungs form plugs that stop the flow of air. So when the heat of the coffee breaks up this mucus then it helps breathing and stops an asthma attack.

Steamy Bathroom

A steamy bathroom is one of the remedies that work for many types of coughs as well. When an asthma attack begins you should go into the bathroom and turn the shower on as hot as it will go. Then stay in the bathroom with the door closed while the steam rises from the shower and fills the entire bathroom. Breathing in the steam from the shower will help alleviate the asthma attack.

Sometimes it works even better if you close the shower curtain to help keep the steam in a more contained area. Then stick your head inside the shower (be careful not to get burned!) and breathe in the steamy air.

A Few Other Asthma Home Remedies

Here are a few other remedies that involve drinking or taking in different concoctions.

The first concoction is one teaspoon of honey with a half teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Mix these two ingredients together and then consume.

The second remedy is for people who are still in the early stages of developing asthma. Every night you should boil about ten cloves of garlic in half a cup of milk and then drink it just before bedtime.

Another possible remedy to be taken at night is to take a glass of very hot water and add a teaspoon of honey to it. Drink it slowly just before going to bed.

Finally, soak one teaspoon of Fenugreek seeds in a cup of water for about eight hours (overnight works great). Then strain the water and add one teaspoon of ginger juice and one teaspoon of honey to the water. Drink this in the morning and at night every single day.

The Benefits These Remedies

If you are suffering from asthma, you want to try to treat your condition yourself as much as possible. Trying different strategies and methods is the best way you can find your own cure and relief from asthma.

Chronic Asthma Information

Not everyone with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease suffers from this form asthma, but many individuals who experience emphysema or chronic bronchitis have asthma-like symptoms. Medical experts continue to debate whether chronic asthma should be classified as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, since asthma can be reversed.

Chronic asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways; the term asthma is derived from an ancient Greek word which means panting. With this type of panting, the inflammation leads to the narrowing of the airways, which can cause wheezing, breathlessness, and gasping for air.

Studies indicate that this severe form of difficulty with breatjing involves two stages: the hyper-reactive response and the inflammatory response. The hyper-reactive response refers to the constriction of the airways in response to inhaled irritants, while the inflammatory stage involves the production of white blood cells in the airways.

During a chronic asthma attack, the muscle tissue in the walls of the bronchi experiences spasms, causing labored breathing. This can lead to coughing, shortness of breath and wheezing occur almost everyday. In order to combat this ailment, several medications may be needed.

Some medical experts speculate that the persistent symptoms of this severe type of breathing attack indicates a food allergy. As a result, some doctors encourage those suffering from breathing difficulties to revise their diets in order to reduce the incidence of flare-ups.

There are some other simple strategies one can follow in order to alleviate symptoms of asthmatic attacks. These include removing the cause of chronic asthma, treating the symptoms, or altering the host to be more tolerant of the causes.

If you've been diagnosed with this form of asthmatic problem, medical experts suggest stopping all smoking and banning cigarette smoke from the house. Patients should also stop the use of volatile chemicals, which may exacerbate one's symptoms. Ending contact with pets can also alleviate the problem.

The aims of any treatment program should include: avoiding the trigger factors for asthmatic attacks, eliminating symptoms, restoring normal lung function, reducing the incidence of severe attacks, and minimizing the side-effects of drugs.

Drug therapy can fall into three categories. Acute asthma can be attacked with preventors or anti-inflammatories; relievers, which provide acute relief of symptoms; and controllers, which provide a sustained bronchodilator action with a mild anti-inflammatory action.

It should be noted that there are some misconceptions about the treatment . For instance, antihistamines do not appear to be an effective treatment strategy as some have thought. Immunosuppressives such as methotrexate are rarely beneficial and acupuncture has a negligible effect.

The basic goals of educating those with this form of asthmatic attacks include an ability to understand the nature of the breathing difficulties, an understanding of different types of asthma medication, an understanding of prevention strategies, knowing the correct use of inhalers, and recognizing signs of worsening symptoms.

Interestingly enough, chronic asthma is often misdiagnosed in the elderly. Also, older people are more susceptible to the side-effects of drugs used to treat this scary affliction. As a result, senior citizens need special prevention strategies for acute asthma.

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Asthma

Asthma starts at all ages. There are two types of asthma.

1. Extrinsic

2. Intrinsic

Extrinsic asthma is the most common type of asthma seen in asthma patients all over the world. Extrinsic asthma develops during childhood, since children are most susceptible to allergies. Most allergies in children are due to hay fever, eczema or family history of allergies.These allergies disappear as the child grows older and so does asthma, but they may reappear in later stages of life.

Intrinsic type of asthma occurs mostly in women who are in their late 20s and early 30s. It is not associated with allergies and intrinsic type of asthma is more chronic and perennial.

The cause of intrinsic asthma can be traced to respiratory tract infections. Asthma also has categorizations based on the intensity of the disease. Asthma can be mild, moderate and severe Mild asthma is found in 30% of the patients. With the decrease in air quality, asthma has become a very prevalent condition, especially in Western societies.

Scientists believe that if you have a parent with asthma, and depending on you genetic makeup, you run the risk of being predisposed to a diagnosis of asthma. Your risk of been diagnosed with an asthma allergy increases if you also have a sibling who has also been diagnosed with asthma. Preventers are used regularly and are taken long term to control chronic symptoms and prevent asthma attacks. Relievers are used for speedy, short-term relief during symptoms of worsening asthma attack. Medications for allergy-induced asthma reduce your body's reaction to a particular allergy and prevent your immune system from reacting to allergies.

A Drug-free, Alternative Treatment for Allergies That Works!

Allergies are the 6th leading cause of chronic disease in America (1), costing U.S. companies more than $250 million annually due to increased absenteeism and reduced productivity. (2) With the incidence of allergies skyrocketing, eliminating the causes and discovering new treatments is the key to bringing the epidemic under control.

What is an Allergy?

When the immune system "mistakes" common substances such as pollens or nuts as a "foreigner", it can over-react and mount an often violent response to expel the "threatening invader," referred to as an allergen. An allergic reaction occurs when a specific antibody, IgE, links the allergen to a specialized white blood cell called a mast cell, releasing histamine into circulation. The results are the commonly recognized symptoms of an allergy: itchy, watery eyes, sneezing and a runny nose. Allergic reactions can also manifest as an asthma attack, violent abdominal cramping or an immediate, severe skin reaction recognized as hives. The most severe type of allergic reaction, anaphylaxis, can result in loss of consciousness and even death.

Why are Allergies Increasing...unsuspected causes

Investigators have identified many substances that can induce the production of IgE antibodies. A little recognized cause included the preservatives found in vaccinations. Mercury, aluminum and gelatin have all been reported in the medical literature to increase IgE concentrations, playing a potential role in the development allergies. (3) There is evidence that the MMR can induce IgE antibodies, evidence that childhood viral immunizations can induce atopic reactions (allergies).(4) Children are exposed to these substances beginning with the routine two-month old vaccinations. Because a newborn's immune system is not fully developed, infancy is a high risk period for allergic sensitization. Events that occur early in life, such as vaccination, have the potential for inducing the development of allergies and asthma later in life.

The incidence of asthma appears to disproportionately affect socially disadvantaged residents of low-income, inner city neighborhoods. A well-documented cause for this is exposure to a protein found in cockroach dropping. One in five children in the U.S. is allergic to cockroach allergens, as indicated by a positive skin prick test.(5) This is believed to be the major risk factor for the development of asthma among children in inner-city homes.

Exposure to antibiotics has been linked to the development allergies. A recently study published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Allergy(6) documents that children given antibiotics during the first year of life are more than four times more likely to develop asthma than children who have never taken antibiotics. When the statistics are adjusted for factors such as gender, ethnicity, family size, family history of asthma and parents' smoking habits, the risk of developing asthma is six times greater in those who have received antibiotics than the risk experienced by children who have never taken them.

Common health problems: think allergies
Allergies are often the underlying cause of a myriad of seemingly unrelated health problems. Many people do not realize that symptoms such as body aches, fatigue, indigestion, headaches, ear infections, irritability, hyperactivity and learning disabilities can be symptoms of overlooked food and environmental allergies. Studies have revealed the following facts:

o The results of a study involving 104 children with >chronic ear infections showed that 78% had positive allergy tests to foods and an elimination diet led to a significant amelioration of symptoms in 86%. The most common allergenic foods were cow's milk (38%), wheat (33%), egg white (25%), peanut (20%) and soya (17%)(7).

o An Italian study of 204 babies found that approximately 45% had stomach discomfort caused by cow's milk.(8)

o Children with inflammatory bowel disease experienced prolonged remission of symptoms with when placed on diets that eliminated grains, dairy products and yeast.(9)

o Professor John Egger reported in the Journal of Pediatrics that epileptics who also have food intolerance symptoms such as headaches, stomach aches or ADHD may have seizures triggered by food additives.(10)

In addition, many parents don't realize that hyperactivity, distractibility and aggressive behavior associated with ADD and ADHD can be triggered by food intolerances. These concepts have been around for many years and have been fully discussed in books by two researcher/physicians, Dr. Ben Feingold, author of Why Your Child is Hyperactive and Dr. Doris Rapp, author of Is This Your Child. Dr. Rapp documented in her book that 67% of children diagnosed with ADHD were actually reacting to unrecognized food and environmental allergies.

What can be done?

An unusual but effective way to identify and treat allergies is through the use of kinesiology, commonly referred to as muscle testing. With this method, the patient holds a vial containing a suspected allergen in his hand while the practitioner applies gentle pressure to the opposite arm to measure muscle strength. If the muscle tests weak, a sensitivity to the substance has been identified.

There are several techniques that incorporate the use of kinesiology to relieve allergies. Perhaps the most widely known is a method called NAET, named after its founder, Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techique. Two other similar techniques are BioSET (Dr. Ellen Cutler's method) and Tenpenny's Sensitivity Reduction Technique, or T-SRT (developed by Dr. Sherri Tenpenny.) All of these techniques involved the use of kinesiology, homeopathy and acupressure/acupuncture, and are categorized as forms of Energy Medicine.

Allergy elimination using energy medicine techniques work to "re-pattern" the immune system so it no longer reacts to harmless substances as if they were a threat. What makes this form allergy elimination so remarkable is that a successful treatment means you no longer need to avoid the allergen. In a study published in 2001 in Alternative Medicine Review(11), 87.2% of the study's 90 participants who eliminated their allergies using an energy medicine approach rated the efficacy of the technique as "good to excellent."

The alternative treatments for allergies are gradually becoming accepted. Until these methods are embraced by conventional medicine, most will not be covered by standard health insurance. However, if getting well and eliminating allergies is the goal, many will chose to do "whatever it takes" and find a way to incorporate these costs into the family budget. By following a good diet and including herbs, vitamins, and energy medicine techniques into a well-rounded healthcare program, restoring health in 2007 can be accomplished.

The Health Benefits of Reishi For the Respiratory System

The Reishi mushroom is hailed as the king of all mushrooms, as it has many benefits on the overall health of the body. One area, where the Reishi mushroom is effective in, is the respiratory system. It has proven itself to be effective in helping with the symptoms of asthma, bronchitis and allergies.

Asthma

Asthma is a very common disease that affects the airways. It can make it difficult to breathe and cause a tightness in the chest. It can also cause coughing and wheezing. Conventional medicine does not have a cure for this condition, but Reishi is said to help ease the symptoms. According to studies the mushroom is effective against the inflammation that builds up in the airways that bring about the symptoms of asthma.

Other inflammatory conditions that can be helped with Reishi include rheumatoid arthritis and HIV.

Bronchitis

Bronchitis is another inflammatory disease that affects the airways. The symptoms are similar to that of the common cold, which include a cough. During chronic bronchitis, the cough brings up mucus and can last for months. Once again, Reishi's powerful anti-inflammatory properties can reduce the inflammation, allowing the individual to find relief from the symptoms.

Allergies

Allergies are very common in the Western countries. They are often aggravated by substances that the body feels threatened by. These include pollen, dust, pet dander, chemicals and smoke. Food allergies are also common, which can cause digestive issues. Common symptoms of an allergic reaction are sinus pressure, sneezing and a stuffy nose, skin rashes and watery eyes.

An allergic reaction is simply an overreaction of the immune system. When the system is weakened by other toxins, then something as little as dust can cause the defense system to overreact, simply because it feels threatened. As a result, the immune system produces extra mucus to help eliminate the foreign substances from the body.

Reishi is effective in eliminating toxins from the body, which in turn strengthens the system so that it no longer has to feel threatened. As a result, the inflammation and other symptoms begin to disappear.

Other health conditions that are helped by a strong immune system include cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes mellitus type 1, graves disease and ulcerative colitis.

Reishi mushroom is available in a supplement form, as well as in a dried form. Due to its powerful medicinal ingredients, pregnant women, and those who are allergic to other mushrooms are advised not to take it, unless prescribed by a physician.

Dealing with Asthma In Adults

Asthma is a chronic lung disorder caused when the airways react to certain allergens or stimuli. If it isn't treated and managed effectively, it can ultimately become a life-threatening disease.

People can develop asthma during adulthood, even if they've never had any problems earlier in life - even during middle age or even older. This is known as Adult Onset Asthma.

Proper diagnosis is important because asthma symptoms are often similar to other illnesses that can develop in adults, including chest problems, cough and even heart disease.

The most common asthma symptoms in adults include the following:

• Wheezing


• Shortness of breath


• Persistent cough


• Excess mucus production


• Pain or tightness in the chest

There are number of things that can trigger asthma in adulthood. One of the most common - and severe - triggers is smoking. Cigarette smoke can cause acute asthma episodes as well as increased sensitivity to other allergens.

Smoking will always make asthma more severe and can also lead to other problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Smoking doesn't only effect the smoker who is asthmatic, either. Second hand smoke will aggravate asthma for anyone exposed to it, and fetal exposure to maternal smoking can also lead to early onset asthma.

Some of the other common asthma triggers in adults include:

• Pollen, mold and other allergens


• Strong odors


• Infections


• Certain medications such as beta-blockers and anti-inflammatory drugs


• Dust


• Exercise

Asthma is a permanent condition - not something that is treated then gone. Even when the symptoms are not apparent, the condition still exists.

As people get older, the lungs become less and less capable, resulting in more pronounced effects from asthma. For this reason, adult onset asthma must be managed properly because if the lungs deteriorate, they may never recover.