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Here i'm not talking to health care providers, I am talking directly to you-
the patient.
If you are concerned about COPD,
have a loved one with COPD or
if you smoke cigarettes,
this video is for you.
COPD
simply speaking COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
just means lung damage
a slow but progressive lung damage
mostly from smoking cigarettes.
Only a small number of patients develop
COPD from some other cause.
If you smoke cigarettes you will eventually gets COPD.
Most people worry about lung cancer when they're smoking.
Yes, lung cancer is the most scary result of smoking but it does not
happen to everyone who smokes.
you may be lucky
and uh... may not have lung cancer despite many years of smoking.
But COPD
does not spare you.
If you smoke
you get COPD.
It it just a matter of time
If you have genetically susceptible lungs you may get COPD
after just a few years of smoking.
If you are born with strong lungs, if you have strong lungs,
it may take many years for you to get COPD,
but it will happen to
everyone who smokes.
The damage happens in two different components of the lungs,
air tubes
air tubes and air balloons.
The air baloons inside our lungs are very elastic.
They expand when we breathe in and partially collapse when we breathe out.
This moment
is what
makes the gas exchange possible.
Oxygen goes
into the lungs
and carbon dioxide comes out
and goes out into the air.
The damage to air tubes
makes them
narrower
and uh... they get plugged up like this.
It prevents enough here from reaching into the air balloons.
You may feel irritation in these tubes and start coughing.
You may also have wheezing sound as you try to squeeze more air into these
narrow pipes.
the damage to the baloons make them less elastic
and over-extended like this
and do not recoil property.
The result is that you..
it makes you feel short of breath.
your body suffocates from the lack of oxygen.
The most important treatment for COPD
is to stop smoking.
That is the
only way to prevent any farther damage.
After you stop smoking,
medications and inhalers may be able to help you breathe a little more easier
but they don't really cure the
uh... the damage
that has been done already.
The key
is to stop smoking
when the lung damage is at the
early stages.
The best thing, of course, is to stop smoking
before you develop COPD
and live with healthy lungs and enjoy the fresh air.