"Lung" is undetectable, this disease will be ambushing by your side
November 18 this year is the 19th World COPD Day.
The full name of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease". Its most common symptoms are difficulty breathing, coughing and expectoration.
You may feel that it is not as “popular” as “hypertension” or “diabetes”, but in fact, on average, one person dies from the disease every 10 seconds.
Moreover, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease often starts slowly and worsens year by year. When the cough and asthma get worse, the disease has often progressed to moderate or severe disease.
Today, I invite experts from the Health Education Institute of the Beijing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Chronic Disease Prevention and Treatment Institute to reveal this "silent disease" for everyone, and at the same time send self-test questions to see how far we are from COPD.
Self-test
How far is COPD from us
COPD, what is wrong with the lung?
According to reports, the most common symptoms of COPD are difficulty breathing, coughing and sputum.
Among them, chronic cough and sputum are often present for many years before airflow limitation. Sometimes cold cough, sometimes morning cough, severe patients may cough for many years.
Coughing up sputum, once you have a cold or some inducement for infection, the color of sputum turns yellow.
At the same time, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing are also hallmark symptoms.
With the gradual deterioration of the disease, wheezing and chest tightness will increase during exercise, and it is often necessary to breathe hard during simple activities, and exercise will decrease endurance.
In addition, COPD can also cause systemic symptoms, including weight loss, loss of appetite, peripheral muscle atrophy and dysfunction, mental depression or anxiety, and worsening symptoms of fever, cough, sputum, and wheezing with infection. There are also osteoporosis and abnormal blood coagulation.
Pulmonary hypertension appears in the late stage of COPD, which in turn leads to chronic pulmonary heart disease and right heart failure.
Maybe you are worried, will I be a COPD patient?
We can make a simple judgment through the following small test:
1. Do you often cough most days?
2. Do you often cough sputum or mucus on most days?
3. Are you out of breath more easily than your peers?
4. Are you over 40 years old?
5. Do you smoke now or have ever smoked?
If you have more than three answers to the above questions are yes, it is recommended that you consult a professional doctor.
Five factors are the culprits
40+ old smokers check their lungs every year
COPD is a preventable disease to a large extent, because the cause of COPD is basically clear. The main cause is the impure gas inhaled.
There are many pathogenic factors of COPD, mainly 5 kinds.
Among them, exposure to tobacco smoke can be said to be the main cause of the disease, which includes smoking and passive smoking, which is what we often call exposure to secondhand smoke.
In addition, indoor and outdoor air pollution, occupational dust and chemical exposure (such as steam, irritants and smoke), any cause that may affect embryonic and infant lung development, and genetic antitrypsin α1 deficiency may lead to slow The occurrence of obstructive lung.
According to reports, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is often a slow onset and worsens year by year.
Some people say that COPD is a silent disease. The patient does not feel any discomfort at the beginning of the onset. When the cough and asthma get worse, the disease has often progressed to moderate or severe disease.
Therefore, it is recommended that long-term smokers take lung function tests every year after the age of 40 and quit smoking as soon as possible.
Many smokers have been smoking for 10, 20, or even 30 years. Sometimes they cough and spit in the morning and don’t care about it. But in fact, COPD is a subtle disease. As they get older, they smoke more. More and more, it will cause COPD.
Incurable but relieved
Sent on the treatment strategy of COPD
At present, COPD cannot be cured, but effective treatment can help patients with COPD relieve symptoms, slow down the damage to the lungs, and live an active life.
According to experts, the earlier the COPD is detected, the better the treatment effect.
Here is the treatment strategy for COPD:
Quitting smoking is the most important thing for lung health.
Many cases of COPD can be prevented by avoiding smoking or quitting as soon as possible.
Avoid indoor and outdoor air pollution and haze. When you go out as little as possible, you should always ventilate the house.
Keep away from smoke and smoke, especially second-hand smoke.
Strengthen physical activity, regular physical activity, and practice breathing exercises.
Choose healthy eating habits and maintain a normal weight.
Oxygen therapy is mainly home oxygen therapy, and an oxygen generator is prepared at home.
In principle, patients with respiratory failure should take oxygen for about 15 hours a day.
Prevention of influenza Elderly people should be vaccinated against influenza before winter comes.
Drug therapy in the stable phase When respiratory problems occur, seek medical attention in time.
If you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, you should see a doctor regularly and strictly follow the doctor's prescription.
Medications are mainly bronchodilators, and the doctor will adjust the medication according to the patient's condition.
Text / reporter Li Jie