Nursing Study #6

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disease in which the lungs are damaged, making it hard to breathe. In COPD, the airways—the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs—are partly obstructed, making it difficult to get air in and out.

Cigarette smoking is the most common cause of COPD. Most people with COPD are smokers or former smokers. Breathing in other kinds of lung irritants, like pollution, dust, or chemicals, over a long period of time may also cause or contribute to COPD.

The airways branch out like an upside-down tree, and at the end of each branch are many small, balloon-like air sacs. In healthy people, each airway is clear and open. The air sacs are small and dainty, and both the airways and air sacs are elastic and springy. When you breathe in, each air sac fills up with air like a small balloon; when you breathe out, the balloon deflates and the air goes out. In COPD, the airways and air sacs lose their shape and become floppy. Less air gets in and less air goes out because:

• The airways and air sacs lose their elasticity (like an old rubber band).
• The walls between many of the air sacs are destroyed.
• The walls of the airways become thick and inflamed (swollen).
• Cells in the airways make more mucus (sputum) than usual, which tends to clog the airways.

COPD develops slowly, and it may be many years before you notice symptoms like feeling short of breath. Most of the time, COPD is diagnosed in middle-aged or older people.

COPD is a major cause of death and illness, and it is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and throughout the world.

There is no cure for COPD. The damage to your airways and lungs cannot be reversed, but there are things you can do to feel better and slow the damage.

COPD is not contagious—you cannot catch it from someone else.

Other Names for COPD

• Chronic obstructive airway disease
• Chronic obstructive lung disease

In the United States, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) includes:

• Emphysema
• Chronic bronchitis

In the emphysema type of COPD, the walls between many of the air sacs are destroyed, leading to a few large air sacs instead of many tiny ones. Consequently, the lung looks like a sponge with many large bubbles or holes in it, instead of a sponge with very tiny holes. The large air sacs have less surface area for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide than healthy air sacs. Poor exchange of the oxygen and carbon dioxide causes shortness of breath.

In chronic bronchitis, the airways have become inflamed and thickened, and there is an increase in the number and size of mucus-producing cells. This results in excessive mucus production, which in turn contributes to cough and difficulty getting air in and out of the lungs.

Most people with COPD have both chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Source:
http://www.medic8.com/lung-disorders/copd.htm

Nursing Study #3

Any substance that is breathed in affects what happens to the lungs. Many of these substances can be hazardous and threaten the lungs' ability to work properly. Such hazards may include:

• 1. Cigarette Smoking - The major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer is cigarette smoking. When someone inhales cigarette smoke, irritating gases and particles cause one of the
  lungs' defenses - the cilia - to slow down. Even one puff on a cigarette slows the cilia, weakening the lungs' ability to defend themselves against infections. Cigarette smoke can cause air passages to close up and make breathing more difficult. It causes chronic inflammation or swelling in the lungs, leading to chronic bronchitis. And cigarette smoke changes the enzyme balance of the lungs, leading to destruction of lung tissue that occurs in emphysema. Macrophages-scavenger cells in the lung-are also harmed.
• 2. Triggers of Asthma - Asthma, the temporary blocking of the small air passages of the lungs, has many possible triggers and can be life-threatening. Infections, lung irritants, cold weather, allergies, over-exertion, excitement, inherited factors, even workplace chemicals and other irritants play a part in this disease.
• 3. Tuberculosis (TB) - Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium spread by the coughing or sneezing of a person who has active TB germs in his or her mucus (sputum). Many people who develop TB today were infected years ago when the disease was more widespread.
  
  Years or decades later, if the natural defense systems of people's bodies begin to weaken, the barriers they built up around the germs begin to crumble, and the TB germs escape and multiply. Such latent (waiting-to-attack) infection can become real illness when a person's defenses are weakened by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infection or other chronic illnesses such as cancer.
  
  A related problem is that outbreaks of TB involving newly infected people are becoming more common in high-risk populations. These groups include individuals who have limited access to health care. In fact, worldwide, TB has become a major international health concern.
• 4. Occupational Hazards - Substances you breathe at work can cause lung disease, too.
  Workers who are exposed to occupational hazards in the air - dusts like those from coal, silica, asbestos, or raw cotton and metal fumes or chemical vapors-can develop lung disease, including occupational asthma.
• 5. , Virus, Fungus, Bacterium (other than TB)Hundreds of germs like these are carried in the air at all times. If they are inhaled into the lungs, the germs can cause colds, influenza, pneumonia, and other respiratory infections. When these germs lodge in your lungs, your breathing can be disrupted and you can become ill. Some of these illnesses can be prevented with vaccination.
• 6. Air Pollution - Particles and gases in the air can be a source of lung irritation. Do whatever you can to reduce your exposure to air pollution. Refer to radio or television weather reports or your local newspaper for information about air quality. On days when the ozone (smog) level is unhealthy, restrict your physical activity to early morning or evening because smog is increased in sunlight. When pollution levels are dangerous, limit activities as necessary. People with chronic heart and lung disease should remain indoors.
• Air pollution can be a problem indoors, too. Check your home for irritants that you can control like dust, household chemicals, and cigarette smoke. You may also want to test your home for the presence of the gas, radon, which is the second leading cause of lung cancer.

Source:
http://www.smokehelp.org/html/lung_disease.html