What is COPD?
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, involving constriction of the airways and difficulty or discomfort in breathing.
Why does COPD cause ankle swelling?
A complication of COPD is pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension occurs due to an increase in pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs. The increased pressure causes damage to the vessels causing blood to back up in the veins of the body. This results in an excess amount of fluid which leaks into the surrounding tissues which, due to gravity, accumulates in the legs.
What are the prior events which cause COPD?
- Smoking
- Repeated chest infections
- Family History
- Exposure to dust in the workplace
- Air pollution
How do you tell the difference between COPD and Asthma?
- Give Salbutamol
- Measure FEV-1
- If FEV-1 has increased, the patient has Asthma
What are the clinical symptoms and signs?
- Dyspnoea (difficult or laboured breathing)
- Wheeze
- Sputum production
- Phlegm
- Cough
- Tachypnoea (abnormally rapid breathing)
- Hyper-inflated chest
- Prolonged Expiration
What are the abnormal test results found in COPD?
- Hyperinflated lungs on a chest X-ray
- Reduced FEV-1. SO reduced FEV-1:FVC
- Hypoxia (deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching the tissues)
- Hypercapnoea (abnormally elevated carbon dioxide levels in the blood)
What are the treatments for COPD?
- Antibiotics for infective bronchitis
- Beta-2 Receptor Agonists (long acting- salmeterol. Short acting- salbutamol)
- Anti-cholenergic bronchodilator therapy
- Oral steroids (prednisolone)
- Inhaled steroids (budesonide)
How to Anti-cholenergic bronchodilators act?
Block parasympathetic nerves which cause airways to constrict.
Preventory methods
Stop smoking
Oxygen supplements
