COPD Awareness Archives

Study Shows Oxygen Therapy Can Help Those With COPD Live Longer

One long-term study conducted in Sweden showed a 3.8% drop in the risk of death for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients, who took part in oxygen therapy over the course of 18 years. Even though this is still a small percentage, one has to consider how many people were included in this study. 7,628 adults between the ages of 66 to 73 were monitored and 5,497 died after they had stopped with the oxygen therapy. The study started in January 1987 and concluded in December of 2004.

The people who took part in the study died from various disease, some of which did not relate to COPD. While 76% of those who died, died from respiratory illness, 16% died from a circulatory disease, 7.6% from cancer and 1.1% from digestive organ disease.

May 1, 2013April 5, 2021 Scott Ridl

Our Bodies Defense Mechanisms – How COPD is Linked With Incontinence

One problem that often comes along with though, many people wouldn’t associate it with COPD, is incontinence. Incontinence is the medical term for being unable to hold your urine or bowel movements long enough to seek out a restroom. Since most people don’t like to openly talk about being unable to control their bladders or bowels, this often goes undiscussed, which leads to more people thinking that “it’s only me”, and “I can’t talk about this because people will see me as helpless”.

If someone has COPD and already uses an oxygen concentrator, they might already feel a degree of alienation, but you shouldn’t feel this way.

April 26, 2013April 5, 2021 Scott Ridl

COPD Advocacy – Why Becoming a Certified Advocate is So Important

The COPD Foundation is putting the word out and raising awareness for the dangers and the subtle and often overlooked early signs of this disease. A staggering amount of people are being diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) each year, but yet there is still so little awareness among the general public. The COPD foundation is on a mission to change that through the COPD Advocacy program, and is even going so far as to certify advocates with a special license.

At first glance from someone who is only beginning to understand COPD, this might seem silly. They might be asking, why is it so important to become an advocate, in the first place, let alone become certified and carry around a license? Who has time for that? Who is eligible?

To answer those questions: if someone chooses to become a COPD advocate, they are taking on the responsibility of being a voice for the millions of people diagnosed with COPD each year. By becoming a certified advocate, they are showing their commitment to the cause of raising public and political awareness for health care and clinical changes in how the disease is treated and viewed. An advocate has been educated in the disease, the statistics, and will communicate their knowledge to politicians and civilians alike.

April 17, 2013April 5, 2021 Scott Ridl

Why You Should be Tested for COPD

It’s well known among the medical community that Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) can go for years undetected. In the early stages, COPD is very subtle. It’s estimated that 2 out of 3 people with COPD have it, but don’t know that they have it. The signs and symptoms don’t become apparent until they have progressed to the moderate or even advanced stages of the disease. The signs of the early stage can be easily overlooked, or written off as something else.

It also doesn’t help that many people don’t have health insurance and don’t qualify for medicaid or medicare because of income or age, so they put off going to the doctor for as long as they can, or they don’t properly communicate how they feel to their doctor. Many people go through a denial and willfully-ignorant stage because they don’t want to face the fact that something serious might be going on.

April 11, 2013April 6, 2021 Scott Ridl

Study Shows Approximately 1 in 4 Will Develop COPD

A long-term study in Canada monitored 13 million adults over the course of 14 years and found that 27% of them had been diagnosed with a form of COPD over that time. The people registered in the study were both smokers and non-smokers, but this was not taken into account during the study. Tobacco smoke was already well known to be the cause of 80% to 90% of all cases of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD, but this was left out since the main goal of the study was to see just how many people will likely develop COPD in general.

April 9, 2013April 5, 2021 Scott Ridl

COPD and What it Could Mean for Your Life Expectancy

Being diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases is not necessarily a death sentence. If you’ve been diagnosed with severe COPD, your doctor might give you a vague prognosis if it doesn’t look like you will have much longer to live. Even so, someone with severe COPD will likely live much longer than predicted, especially if he or she makes healthy lifestyle changes. If you have mild COPD and you continue with the unhealthy habits that lead to this disease, you will likely not live as long as someone who takes the steps to treat themselves and live a healthier life.

April 3, 2013April 6, 2021 Scott Ridl

Natural Disasters, Pollution and How they Affect COPD

You’ve taken steps to quit smoking and are working on other areas of your health now that you’ve been diagnosed with COPD. Despite all of your efforts for staying healthy and avoiding harmful things, you still seem to be getting worse and have frequent, severe exacerbations.

It’s true that some of the things that can have a significant effect on our lungs aren’t things we have direct control over. We can wash our hands and get vaccines to prevent illness, avoid allergies and take medications, but it can be nearly impossible to avoid what is already in the air around us.

Pollution, whether man-made or natural, can have serious adverse effects on our lungs. People who have a chronic lung disease like COPD or asthma will feel the effects more than anyone since the lungs are more sensitive. BioMed Central, a medical journal and article publisher, conducted a study that says forest fires are having a significant impact on people with COPD, especially. They based the findings on reports from pharmacies filling more prescriptions than usually in areas that were close to where there were recent forest fires.

March 15, 2013April 5, 2021 Scott Ridl

Why Your Beauty Routine Might be Hurting Your Lungs

You want to look good, of course. When you’re happy with your appearance, it can boost your mood and make you feel good in general. As we know, things that seem good sometimes have hidden dangers and pit falls. Sometimes these problems don’t outweigh the good effects, and it’s just a matter of how much we want to subject ourselves to.

If you have sensitive lungs, allergies or a chronic lung disease, however, there are a few things that you probably wouldn’t want to use at all. If you still want to use them, there are some things you can do to limit your exposure, and some alternatives to your favorite products.

February 11, 2013April 5, 2021 Scott Ridl

How to Avoid the Risks of Oxygen Therapy

As long as it is administered properly, it’s rare to experience any major side effects from using oxygen therapy. Everything that is mostly beneficial, any type of treatment for an illness, can have its share of drawbacks and possible dangers.

Just jogging every day would be great for your hear and lungs, but it might be causing damage to your knees. You could be getting a great exercise from playing tennis, but your elbow is now in pain. There is a good side and bad side to everything. Many of the problems you might face with oxygen therapy can be prevented, however. You just need to know what to watch out for and what you can do to avoid them.

February 5, 2013April 5, 2021 Scott Ridl

How to Cope When You are Diagnosed with COPD

You’ve gone to the doctor with complaints of having trouble breathing, he has ordered lung x-rays and tests for your lung function and the results are back. Your doctors informs you that have been diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD.

COPD covers two chronic respiratory illness – Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema. Even though these two illnesses are different and have slightly different symptoms aside from lowered lung function, they still fall under the name of COPD. A friend of yours may have been diagnosed with the same disease, but he has severe Emphysema and you have a mild form of Chronic Bronchitis. Even though you both have COPD, the medications and treatments you have will differ.

January 25, 2013April 5, 2021 Scott Ridl

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