Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Essay

Everyone needs oxygen to breathe, but people who have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) find it difficult to cycle oxygen into the lungs. This respiratory system block is sometimes mistaken as just a bad cough or a result of old age, but it can be a lot more deadly than people may think. COPD develops through stages instead of affecting a person all at once like more common diseases do, making it hard to detect in the beginning.This disturbance in the lungs usually only happens to people of older age (Approximately 40-60), but this does not mean it can’t affect those who are younger. Unknowing of the signs of COPD, smoking cigarettes, and drinking alcohol can make a huge turn for the worst.

In the beginning stages of COPD, a person will tend to be short of breath and have slight tightness in the chest area, making it only seem to be a normal cold of some sort. As the disease progresses, the person will then cough and hack, some more aggressively than others, making breathlessness occur more often. Heading toward the severe stages can be extremely hazardous to one's health (Drowsiness, wheezing, and inability to breathe at some points) and at this time a doctor will
more than likely be consulted in order to figure out if anything can be done. Once everything is figured out after a diagnosis, the prescription can range from a simple pocket inhaler to a portable oxygen tank, depending on the severity of the person’s COPD.

Now, smokers fit into this like the outside pieces to a puzzle, they have a higher risk of obtaining COPD than a non-smoker (Not saying that if someone never smokes they will never get COPD, there’s still genetics to consider, but they will have a lower risk).
The tobacco within cigarettes, cigars, and smoking pipes is the main toxin that contributes to COPD, along with the smoke that is inhaled directly or secondhand. How this happens is, the smoke from the cigarette (if inhaled deeply) will wash into the lungs and disrupt the brocholes, hence why some have the “smokers cough”. After smoking for a long period of time, the toxins will then cause lung damage which will affect the way the person breathes, their teeth, and even on extremely rare occasion, the sense of smell can be tampered
with.

Drinking alcohol is bad and should never be done, especially if you already know you have COPD with considerable lung damage. Anybody who knows they have this disease and drinks alcohol could end up making their condition worse due to the lowering of glutathione levels (Glutathione is a compound involved as a coenzyme in oxidation–reduction reactions in cells. It is a tripeptide derived from glutamic acid, cysteine, and glycine. - www.dictionary.com/browse/glutathione ). A person with COPD who drinks alcohol and smokes cigarettes can have an extremely high risk to flare-ups, hospital visits, and only if the COPD stage is severe, it can lead to death.

I myself know about some of these things from personal experience within my home ever since I was a kid. My mother has severe COPD which I witness on a daily basis ever since she was diagnosed ten years ago by her doctor in the Lee’s Summit Medical Center. The major key points on this topic is that there are people out there thinking they have a bad cough or cold because of old age or smoking, when really it’s much worse. Smoking and drinking won’t help the situation either, anybody with COPD should avoid both of these toxins at all costs. COPD is not something to beat around the bush about, it’s a serious disease and thousands of people know it.