Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is a group of diseases blocking airflow in the lungs, leading to problems in breathing. Chronic bronchitis and emphysema are types of COPD. The concept is COPD is simple, the airways in your lungs carry less air to your lungs, thereby resulting in shortness of breath and several other problems:
- Airways and air sacs become less elastic
- Walls separating air sacs are damaged
- Airway walls become thick and swollen
- The airways get clogged due to excessive mucus production
In the initial stages, a person with COPD may have no symptoms or very mild symptoms. But as the disease progresses, they may experience more serious symptoms. Symptoms of COPD include persistent coughing, cough with profuse mucus production, breathlessness with mild physical activity, wheezing, and tightness in the chest. Of course, everyone with these symptoms may not have COPD. Your doctor will be able to make a diagnosis based on a physical exam and some tests. For COPD, the symptoms are like asthma. In the initial stages, there won't be any symptoms and in the later stages the shortness of breath tends to increase and the patient might feel difficulty in breathing.
Causes of COPD
The major reason for COPD is smoking; long term exposure to second-hand smoke can also give you COPD. Exposure to second-hand smoke in childhood and teen years can stunt lung development, leading to COPD in adult life. Studies have shown that 8 out of every 10 COPD related deaths are caused by smoking. The main reason is either smoking or inhaling second-hand smoke. Other reasons include allergic smokes and continuous exposure to air pollution.
Prevention
The best way to prevent COPD is to not smoke or be around smokers to inhale secondhand smoke. If you have started smoking recently, then stop. Immediately. Young people may think it's cool, but smoking is anything but cool. It can damage your lungs and make life extremely difficult for you and your family. The worst part of COPD is that it is not irreversible, once diagnosed it can only be treated but not cured. There are few drugs that can be used to treat COPD and one among them is prednisone and copd. At any cost, it can only be managed with medicines and exercises since the airways cannot regain its nature once damaged. Would you spare your life for a smoke? Not right!
Treatment
The consequence of smoking is prednisone and copd is your best bet to try and beat the disease. Prednisone is considered an off-label drug. It's an oral corticosteroid that relieves your discomfort and helps you breathe better. As an anti-inflammatory drug, it reduces the swelling of the lung's airways, and soothes its lining. It is usually prescribed for the short term so that you don't experience side effects like water retention, swelling, mood swings, and increase in blood pressure. The medicines and treatment for COPD can in turn give you side effects like swelling and mood swings.