COPD consists of the deterioration of lung activity, affecting air flow in affected people, due to the continuous obstruction of the airways. The term chronic is used which refers to the fact that it lasts a lifetime.
COPD is progressive and is not always reversible. It can be prevented and treated, but produces long consequences of level physical, social and mental in the affected person.
There are two main forms of COPD, or two ways it occurs, which are chronic bronchitis (a prolonged cough with mucus) and emphysema (damage to the lungs), although most of those who have COPD have a combination of both conditions.
This disease affects the quality of life of the individual who presents it, because it limits the performance of many activities that are carried out in daily life, such as making the bed, preparing food, climbing stairs, walking fast and even dressing. This is because the person when performing any activity that requires minimal physical effort can suffer the sensation of suffocation, even in a state of rest.
In addition to choking, there are other symptoms of COPD: chronic cough and headache on waking (they tend to worsen in advanced stages of the disease), tendency to suffer from chest colds, expectoration of secretions, wheezing, disturbances during sleep and in the later stages of the disease the person tends to lose a significant amount of weight.
Likewise, those affected by COPD are more at risk for lung cancer and / or heart problems than anyone else. In addition, they are prone to other diseases such as arrhythmia, hypertension, kidney failure, diabetes, heart failure, pneumonia, among others.
The main cause of COPD is smoking, both active (smokers) and passive (non-smoker but exposed to cigarette smoke). There is also the use of fire to cook without adequate ventilation and work in closed environments, where the person is exposed to gases and fumes, being the most frequent disease in coal miners, workers in industries that produce cereals and workers in the sector. metallurgical.
COPD is the leading reason for work disability, second only to heart disease. Similarly, it is the most common chronic lung disease in the world, affecting mostly men, with higher mortality in males.
