Smoking Cessation Awareness
Genevieve Mensah
Nursing 756
Lehman College
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is defined by World Health Organization as not one single disease but an umbrella term used to describe chronic lung diseases that cause limitations in lung airflow. Chronic Bronchitis’ and ‘emphysema are now included within the COPD diagnosis. It is a life threatening lung disease that interferes with normal breathing, characterized by persistent blockage of airflow from the lungs. The airflow limitation and air trapping is a result of breakdown of lung tissue where the airway becomes narrow and damaged. The narrowing occurs as a result of inflammation and scarring within them which leads to breathlessness and fatigue. …show more content…
A low spirometry is consistent with COPD but may not be specific to the disease because it may be caused by other lung disease or by poor performance during testing. Symptoms to look out for include chronic cough, sputum production, difficult labored breathing and history of exposure to risk factors for the disease(http://www.uptodate.com/contents/chronic-obstructive- pulmonary-disease-copd.htm). The WHO estimates 65 million people have moderate to severe COPD. More than a million people died in 2005, which corresponds to 5% of all deaths globally. According to WHO, most information available on COPD prevalence, morbidity and mortality comes from high- income countries. Countries who have accurate epidemiologic data on the disease are difficult and expensive to collect. It is known that almost 90% of COPD deaths occur in low and middle income countries and the disease now affects men and women almost equally
(http://www.who.int/topics/global_burden_of_disease).In 2002 COPD was the fifth leading cause of death. Total deaths from the disease are projected to increase by more than 30% in the next 10 years unless urgent action is taken to reduce underlying risk factors especially
Genevieve Mensah
Nursing 756
Lehman College
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is defined by World Health Organization as not one single disease but an umbrella term used to describe chronic lung diseases that cause limitations in lung airflow. Chronic Bronchitis’ and ‘emphysema are now included within the COPD diagnosis. It is a life threatening lung disease that interferes with normal breathing, characterized by persistent blockage of airflow from the lungs. The airflow limitation and air trapping is a result of breakdown of lung tissue where the airway becomes narrow and damaged. The narrowing occurs as a result of inflammation and scarring within them which leads to breathlessness and fatigue. …show more content…
A low spirometry is consistent with COPD but may not be specific to the disease because it may be caused by other lung disease or by poor performance during testing. Symptoms to look out for include chronic cough, sputum production, difficult labored breathing and history of exposure to risk factors for the disease(http://www.uptodate.com/contents/chronic-obstructive- pulmonary-disease-copd.htm). The WHO estimates 65 million people have moderate to severe COPD. More than a million people died in 2005, which corresponds to 5% of all deaths globally. According to WHO, most information available on COPD prevalence, morbidity and mortality comes from high- income countries. Countries who have accurate epidemiologic data on the disease are difficult and expensive to collect. It is known that almost 90% of COPD deaths occur in low and middle income countries and the disease now affects men and women almost equally
(http://www.who.int/topics/global_burden_of_disease).In 2002 COPD was the fifth leading cause of death. Total deaths from the disease are projected to increase by more than 30% in the next 10 years unless urgent action is taken to reduce underlying risk factors especially