This lung disease is the third in terms of mortality: people often ignore its first symptoms.

We discussed complications caused by COPD, risk factors, and the importance of early diagnosis with the doc. Diana Barkauskiene.

– Could you briefly describe what chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is?

– The incidence of COPD can vary from one patient to another, as it depends on the causative agent, such as smoking, environmental pollutants, and congenital and acquired characteristics. It is an expression of the response of the inflammatory process to inhaled gases or particles. COPD is characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms such as cough, sputum, shortness of breath, persistent bronchial obstruction, or small chronic bronchoconstriction due to lung or airway damage.

– How dangerous is this disease? Can it cause complications?

– As the disease progresses, respiratory failure develops, requiring a constant supply of oxygen, chronic pulmonary heart disease, secondary erythrocytosis.

Exacerbations affect the quality of life of patients and promote the deterioration of lung function, the progression of emphysema and increase the risk of hospitalization and death. After the exacerbation, lung function status does not return to baseline values, and after a second severe exacerbation, the disease progresses extremely rapidly.

– Is COPD a fatal disease?

– COPD is a progressive disease that leads to disability and increased mortality. In 2020, the disease would become the third leading cause of death among all fatal diseases, but it happened much earlier. For example, in 2016, up to 3 million people died of COPD. people, and lung cancer has cost 1.7 million. lives. Although a variety of advanced therapies have emerged, COPD continues to maintain high mortality rates. The high mortality is said to be due to late diagnosis of the disease, exposure to risk factors, improper treatment, non-compliance with the treatment regimen, exacerbations of the disease, lack of physical activity, social factors, etc. I believe that special attention should be paid to individual patient training and individual inhaler selection, which helps to achieve better treatment goals and reduce the risk of mortality.

– What risk factors lead to the development of COPD?

– The main risk factors are smoking, air pollution in the home and the environment, occupational factors such as dust, aerosols, smoke and genetic traits. COPD is caused by both environmental and genetic factors, that is, their interactions. The leader is smoking (also passive), which accounts for about 80 percent. cases of the disease. About 15-20 percent of cases are caused by other air pollutants. Up to 1 percent of cases are due to a congenital cause: alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (A1AT).

– What are the symptoms of COPD? Which patients should rush to investigate first for possible COPD?

– COPD should be suspected when the patient experiences dyspnea, cough, sputum, wheezing, prolonged exhalation and dry warts in the lungs, recurrent infections of the lower respiratory tract. Special attention should be paid to patients over 40 years of age with at least one of the identified symptoms; There are also inherent risk factors, such as prolonged smoking, a polluted environment, etc.

– What is a typical COPD patient like?

– It depends on the severity of the disease. A patient with mild COPD does not pay much attention to the morning sputum, cough, or shortness of breath that occurs during exercise. At this stage, it is crucial to simply suspect COPD and offer to investigate. Advanced COPD is usually diagnosed when shortness of breath is expressed during light exercise or at rest. Such patients are afraid to move, they avoid physical exertion because the latter causes difficulty in breathing.

– Why is it important to diagnose COPD as early as possible?

– Patients with early stage disease are more likely to adapt to the effects of the disease. They are not bothered by shortness of breath, sputum, or cough that occur during strenuous exercise. Your family doctor should investigate these symptoms on purpose. The earlier the disease is diagnosed, the easier it will be for the patient to successfully encourage to quit smoking and start living a healthier life, which is very important in stopping the progression of the disease. Early diagnosis and medical and non-medical treatment help reduce the risk of exacerbations and death.

Another interesting fact is that in the second stage of COPD (the GOLD classification distinguishes four stages), the forced expiratory volume is the one that decreases the most during the first second (FEV1). Therefore, lung function deteriorates more rapidly in the early stages of COPD. Early diagnosis, treatment and elimination of risk factors help to “navigate” the faster stages of the disease and significantly improve the patient’s quality of life.

– Are the patients willing to accept the treatment?

– Those patients whose symptoms alter their quality of life view their illness in a very benevolent way and cooperate. However, there are patients whose respiratory medications are more difficult to use and who lower their arms do not believe in the effectiveness of the treatment. This is not how it was supposed to be. Sincere cooperation between doctor, nurse and patient should prevail. Individual treatment helps achieve better results. An inhaler should be prescribed that is easier for the patient to use and allows him to inhale correctly.

– In your opinion, what can be done so that as many patients as possible start treatment for their disease at an early stage? What else would you like to convey to your readers?

– I propose to educate the public more, explain more about the effects of risk factors on the respiratory system. Even innocent symptoms like cough, sputum, or shortness of breath during strenuous exercise can be a manifestation of a threatening illness.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that there are no medications yet that slow the decline in respiratory function, but quitting smoking has been shown to slow the progression of the disease.