02:50
Faizan
The term chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to a group of progressive lung diseases that leave you breathless and tired because you cannot breathe fully. It is incurable.
COPD is the kind of disease that flares up from time to time. The two most common types of COPD are emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
The exchange... your lungs contain about 600 million air sacs. When you breathe in, the oxygen in the incoming air is exchanged for the carbon dioxide in your blood through minute capillaries attached to these air sacs. This exchange is vital for your health and physical functioning.
When you have emphysema the number of air sacs in your lungs are reduced or they are misshapen or blocked. The result is that your lungs cannot adequately process the exchange of oxygen for carbon dioxide. This reduced capacity compromises your ability to breathe effectively.
When you have bronchitis the airways in your lung become swollen or thicker than normal which results in them being blocked or obstructed. This makes it harder to exhale and causes chronic (ie, long-term) coughing.
What causes COPD?
The simple answer to this question is chronic inflammation.
There are two types of inflammation... acute and chronic.
Acute inflammation refers to a short-term immune response to a sudden injury. For example, if you cut your finger, the cut will probably be red and swollen the next day. This indicates that chemicals to fight foreign invaders (that may have been introduced into your body by the cut) have been released by your immune system and are doing their job of fighting infections. Provided you are fairly healthy, your finger should heal after a few days.
Chronic inflammation occurs when the inflammatory response won't turn off. It your immune system keeps pumping out inflammatory chemicals. In other words, inflammation occurs when it is not necessary. It is obviously detrimental to your health.
It is becoming increasingly evident that chronic inflammation is the root cause of many chronic diseases such as COPD.
Chronic inflammation is also at the root of type 2 diabetes.
Link between COPD and diabetes
Though they have the same root, the link between COPD and diabetes is not clear. There is no concrete research data showing that people with COPD have a greater risk of developing diabetes or vice versa.
However, studies do show that about 15% of patients with COPD who are admitted to hospital also have diabetes. In the population as a whole, the prevalence of diabetes is just under 10%.
A search of the literature published in Cardiovascular Diabetology looked at COPD as a risk factor for the development of diabetes and vice versa. The researchers concluded that there was a two-way risk between the two diseases.
It seems that COPD increases the incidence of diabetes for several reasons. COPD, for example, causes you to gain weight (as you are less active) and so increases your resistance to insulin.
On the other hand, diabetes seems to increase the occurrence of lung infections and make COPD worse by causing an increase in flare-ups.
Further research indicates that high blood glucose is linked to impaired lung function. A study in Thorax showed that diabetes was linked to a reduced ability to expel air forcibly from the lungs. This association was made worse by smoking.
It would appear highly probable that damage to the nervous system caused by diabetes (diabetic neuropathy) can weaken respiratory muscles making breathing shallow and less effective... though this link between diabetes and COPD has not been established with any degree of certainty.
How to fight COPD
There is no cure for COPD.
However, there are lots of things you can do to slow the progression of the disease. Many of these are the same things you should do to help you control your diabetes.
Quit smoking
Eat a healthy diet
Take up regular exercise
Avoid polluted air
Use breathing exercises to train your lungs
COPD is the kind of disease that flares up from time to time. The two most common types of COPD are emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
The exchange... your lungs contain about 600 million air sacs. When you breathe in, the oxygen in the incoming air is exchanged for the carbon dioxide in your blood through minute capillaries attached to these air sacs. This exchange is vital for your health and physical functioning.
When you have emphysema the number of air sacs in your lungs are reduced or they are misshapen or blocked. The result is that your lungs cannot adequately process the exchange of oxygen for carbon dioxide. This reduced capacity compromises your ability to breathe effectively.
When you have bronchitis the airways in your lung become swollen or thicker than normal which results in them being blocked or obstructed. This makes it harder to exhale and causes chronic (ie, long-term) coughing.
What causes COPD?
The simple answer to this question is chronic inflammation.
There are two types of inflammation... acute and chronic.
Acute inflammation refers to a short-term immune response to a sudden injury. For example, if you cut your finger, the cut will probably be red and swollen the next day. This indicates that chemicals to fight foreign invaders (that may have been introduced into your body by the cut) have been released by your immune system and are doing their job of fighting infections. Provided you are fairly healthy, your finger should heal after a few days.
Chronic inflammation occurs when the inflammatory response won't turn off. It your immune system keeps pumping out inflammatory chemicals. In other words, inflammation occurs when it is not necessary. It is obviously detrimental to your health.
It is becoming increasingly evident that chronic inflammation is the root cause of many chronic diseases such as COPD.
Chronic inflammation is also at the root of type 2 diabetes.
Link between COPD and diabetes
Though they have the same root, the link between COPD and diabetes is not clear. There is no concrete research data showing that people with COPD have a greater risk of developing diabetes or vice versa.
However, studies do show that about 15% of patients with COPD who are admitted to hospital also have diabetes. In the population as a whole, the prevalence of diabetes is just under 10%.
A search of the literature published in Cardiovascular Diabetology looked at COPD as a risk factor for the development of diabetes and vice versa. The researchers concluded that there was a two-way risk between the two diseases.
It seems that COPD increases the incidence of diabetes for several reasons. COPD, for example, causes you to gain weight (as you are less active) and so increases your resistance to insulin.
On the other hand, diabetes seems to increase the occurrence of lung infections and make COPD worse by causing an increase in flare-ups.
Further research indicates that high blood glucose is linked to impaired lung function. A study in Thorax showed that diabetes was linked to a reduced ability to expel air forcibly from the lungs. This association was made worse by smoking.
It would appear highly probable that damage to the nervous system caused by diabetes (diabetic neuropathy) can weaken respiratory muscles making breathing shallow and less effective... though this link between diabetes and COPD has not been established with any degree of certainty.
How to fight COPD
There is no cure for COPD.
However, there are lots of things you can do to slow the progression of the disease. Many of these are the same things you should do to help you control your diabetes.
Quit smoking
Eat a healthy diet
Take up regular exercise
Avoid polluted air
Use breathing exercises to train your lungs
