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Introducing “Added Insights from Dr. Nair”

We have added a new feature to the news articles shared by the National Emphysema Foundation: Added Insights from Dr. Nair. These commentaries by NEF’s President of Clinical Affairs, Laurence Nair, MD, will enhance the value of the articles we present each month by providing extra insights from the clinician’s perspective. Whether he is expanding on the article’s key points, highlighting particularly important aspects, or challenging the reader to take the news with a grain of salt, Added Insights will provide another layer of information and education on living with COPD.

Dr. Nair is a three-time board-certified pulmonary critical physician and an assistant professor of medicine at Frank Netter School of Medicine in North Haven, Conn. He has an active pulmonary practice and rounds in the Intensive Care Unit at Medstate Medical Center in Meriden, Conn.

Over the course of his 25 years in practice, Dr. Nair has worked regularly with COPD patients in all phases of the disease process – accumulating a depth of experience and level of expertise that make his contributions to NEF’s monthly news roundup particularly meaningful.

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Trends

RELATED ARTICLES

April 24, 2013
Study Reveals Prevalence of COPD by State
In 2008, chronic lower respiratory disease, primarily chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), became the third leading cause of death in the United States after only heart disease and cancer.

August 12, 2011
COPD Prevalence Stable, But Death Rate Declines in Men
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains a significant killer, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

COPD: The Basics

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third-leading cause of death in the United States and one of the most common lung diseases in the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 210 million people across the world are currently suffering from COPD. That estimate includes nearly 12 million Americans living with COPD, while another 12 million may be left undiagnosed.

COPD is a combination of diseases, with most patients suffering from both chronic bronchitis and emphysema, making breathing more and more difficult for them. That is because emphysema destroys the air sacs in the lungs over time, reducing the surface area of the lungs and the amount of oxygen that enters the bloodstream. Further, chronic bronchitis leaves patients with inflamed bronchial tubes and a long-term cough with mucus.

Symptoms of COPD include shortness of breath, coughing with or without mucus, respiratory infections, tightness of the chest, wheezing and trouble catching one’s breath. However, most COPD patients do not experience symptoms from the disease until their lungs have been severely damaged, making it important for those people who are at risk for the disease to be screened regularly. Spirometry is the most commonly used test for diagnosing COPD, while X-rays, CT scans and lab tests can also be used.

While smoking is the main cause of COPD, inhaling irritants such as chemicals, dust and other fumes are also risk factors. COPD can also affect those who have never smoked or had any contact with harmful pollutants, as there is a genetic risk factor for developing emphysema. The most commonly known genetic risk factor for emphysema is called alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency, which leaves patients with little to no AAT protein in the bloodstream. This deficiency leaves room for white blood cells to damage the lungs. While AAT deficiency seems to be the main cause of COPD among nonsmokers, researchers believe that there are other genetic factors that may increase the risk of developing the disease.

While currently there is no cure for COPD, there are treatment options to relieve symptoms and keep the disease from progressing. These include medications such as inhalers and steroids, oxygen therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation and surgery. There are also steps that COPD patients can take on their own to improve their symptoms, including:

  • Practicing controlled breathing and relaxation exercises
  • Exercising regularly to strengthen respiratory muscles
  • Maintaining a healthy diet and drinking plenty of water
  • Avoiding crowds and cold air
  • Getting vaccinated for respiratory infections
  • Quitting smoking and avoiding places where smoking is permitted

While COPD cannot be cured, it can be prevented by avoiding smoking and by breathing clean, fresh air to keep lungs healthy.

Click Here to Access More Information About COPD From dailyRx.

The Lung

The largest and one of the most complex organs in the human body, the lungs play a pivotal role in the proper function and health of every organ, cell and tissue in the body. That is because the lungs provide the body with oxygen, which is required for all organ functions, including heart functions that are involved in every living activity.

In its healthy state, the lung receives the air that you breathe through your bronchial tubes, or airways, which branch into thousands of smaller tubes called bronchioles, and then again into bunches of tiny air sacs called alveoli. These airways and air sacs are all elastic by nature, and fill up with air as you breathe in and deflate as you breathe out. When air reaches these air sacs, the oxygen in the air passes through the sac walls into the bloodstream by way of small blood vessels (capillaries), while carbon dioxide moves from these blood vessels into the air sacs.

However, a number of outside factors can negatively affect the airways and air sacs and their ability to supply oxygen to the bloodstream. For example, smoking and long-term exposure to other lung irritants can compromise the elasticity of the airways and air sacs and destroy the walls between many of the sacs. The walls of the airways can also become thick and inflamed, while an increase in mucus production may clog them. As a result, less oxygen is produced by the lungs and delivered to the body’s vital organs.

Because oxygen is critical to the survival of all human beings, maintaining healthy lungs is the key to the energy chain that keeps us living.