Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

With chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), it is difficult to get a good night sleep.

You have to use the medications that either energizes you or you have to use the restroom frequently during the night.

Depression and anxiety can also impair your sleep.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is referred to two lung diseases which include chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Both can cause obstruction of the airways. Bronchitis is the inflammation of the bronchi and emphysema is damage to the smaller airways and airsacs of the lungs.

In majority cases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is caused due to smoking. Air pollution can cause or make the condition worse.

COPD symptoms:

• Breathlessness and wheezing occurs when you exert yourself at first. If you continue to smoke, these symptoms become worse gradually.
• Cough is usually developed and it comes and tends to go at first. Gradually, it becomes chronic. I the beginning, you think it as smoking cough, but, once breathlessness begins, you realize it as the symptom of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
• Mucus is made in large due to the damaged airways. This forms sputum and you cough lot of sputum every day.
• If you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chest infections are common. If you have chest infection, wheezing with cough and breathlessness become worse.

COPD diagnosis:

The diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can be made by your doctor by asking some questions. Do you have trouble falling asleep when you go to bed?

Do you wake up too early in the morning? What are the problems which disturbed your sleep? What wakes you up in the middle of the sleep?

The diagnosis can be made with a simple test called spirometry. Spirometry measures how deeply a person can breathe and how fast air can move into and out of the lungs.

Diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease should be considered when a patient has symptoms of chronic cough, sputum production and dyspnea.

COPD treatment:

• Stop smoking is important part of the treatment. Short acting bronchodilator inhalers like beta agonist inhalers and anticholinergic inhalers relax the muscles in the airways to open them up as wide as possible. These inhalers work for some people. People who have mild symptoms can use these inhalers.
• If you have severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, steroid inhaler helps in addition to a bronchodilator inhaler. Long acting bronchodilator inhalers include beta agonists called salmeterol and formoterol. They work in similar way as of short acting inhalers.
• The medicines such as theophilline open the airways. Side effects with drugs are usually common and inhalers are better. Steroid tablets reduce the extra inflammation in the airways caused by infections. You should not take steroid tablets long term as there are severe side effects.
• Oxygen can help people with severe symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Doctor will conduct breathing tests to know whether oxygen helps or not. Small number of cases requires surgery. The symptoms can be improved by removing a part of the lung that has become useless.

People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease should exercise regularly to improve breathing, ease symptoms and to have better quality of life. If you are obese, lose weight as it can make breathlessness worse.