COPD and CVD Pathophysiologic Processes

Nursing
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Nursing André et al. (2018) indicate that chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) is a highly prevalent and treatable respiratory condition with persistent airflow limitation and other respiratory-related complications due to alveolar and airway abnormalities. The severity of this disease arises from the fact that it presents alongside cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) comorbid conditions (André et al., 2018). Thus, the illness highlights unique COPD-CVD pathophysiologic processes, influenced by other factors, including racial/ethnic variables, leading to its concerning effects on the patients. Cardiovascular and Cardiopulmonary Pathophysiologic Processes             Although COPD and CVD were traditionally viewed as separate diseases, concerted clinical, epidemiological, and experimental studies’ evidence dispels this perspective by highlighting the interconnectedness between the two conditions. According to André et al. (2018), the primary cause of both diseases is cigarette smoking and progressive exposure to particles and other toxic gases. These impurities reduce airways and initiate pulmonary hyperinflation due to gradual but progressive obstruction and lung parenchyma destruction (Morgan et al., 2018). As a result, this aspect leads to shortness of breath symptoms consistent with the ones experienced by the patient in the current case study. The inflammations characterizing COPD trigger many consequences, including elastin degradation, abnormalities in vessel walls, and hypoxia, among other aspects. The complex interconnection between COPD and CVD arises because these outcomes directly trigger issues such as arterial stiffness and oxidative stress that emerge as primary causative factors for diverse CVDs.             Increasing evidence reveals that inflammation is the central pathophysiologic connection between COPD and CVD. The diverse insults lead to various skeletal muscle dysfunction causing symptoms such as diaphragm flattening. André et al. (2018) indicate that systemic inflammation, obstructions, and muscle dysfunction exert pressure on the lungs, interfering with average breathing frequency. As a result, this disruption leads to the presentation of rhonchi and hyper resonance. Moreover, the author reveals that the inflammation process triggers a rise in bronchial wall tissue volume, explaining the sputum production and associated symptoms. COPD’s diverse outcomes worsen and increase the emergence of CVDs comorbidities, including dysfunction of right ventricul...