NR282 RUA COPD: Risk Factors and Health Conditions

COPD: Risk Factors
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COPD: Risk Factors
COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and is a respiratory health problem attributed to advanced lung diseases such as chronic bronchitis, asthma, and emphysema, among others. The disease process begins with the destruction of the airways due to chronic inflammation, which later extends to the lung tissues and pulmonary blood vessels. It results in the narrowing of the airways, loss of tissue and the patient begins to experience a cough accompanied by mucus (Regan, Hokanson, & Murphy, 2011). Eventually, they develop a difficulty in breathing. It is a life-threatening health condition with no definite cure. The paper addresses its risk factors and prevention strategies, that can substantially change the current statistics.
Some of the risk factors include a person’s lifestyle, environment, genetics, age, gender, and culture among others. Tobacco smoking is a common lifestyle addiction and the leading cause of COPD. The smoke causes a release of elastase and proteases, which destroys the matrix that supports the lungs. The harmful oxidants also aggravate the chronic inflammation, leading to emphysema (Khdour, Hawwa, Kidney, Smyth, & McElnay, 2012). Other lifestyle addictions such as alcohol and dietary factors such as a lack of iron in the body, are also risk factors for COPD. Environmentally, an increase in globalization, industrialization, and overcrowding in towns and cities results in increased indoor and outdoor air pollution, which leads to respiratory complications. Some of the indoor pollutants include the burning of fuels. Constantly breathing in dust particles of minerals, grains, cadmium, and coal can also aggravate COPD (Petrache & Tuder, 2012).
If an individual’s parents, grandparents, or several other ancestors have had COPD, then it is highly likely that the individual will develop the disease due to genetic inheritance. The individual will be born with the condition such as asthma and will develop the symptoms later in life. The explained genetic risk factor is the hardest to treat. Subsequently, the best way to minimize it is by subsidizing the effects through various treatments. Age is also a risk factor for COPD, especially if an individual is above the age of 40 (Soriano & Rodríguez-Roisin, 2011). The disease takes several years to advance, and some of the symptoms at that age include loss of breath, persistent coughing, wheezing, and chest pains. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 11.2% of men above 75 years and 9.7% of women in the same age bracket are at most risk of COPD. In the younger generation, only 2% of males between 18 and 24 years are likely to develop COPD while it is 3% of females in the same age bracket (Petrache & Tuder, 2012). The male gender is more at risk than their female counterparts are, based on these statistics.
Culture also has a significant effect on the prevalence of COPD. For instance, in India, the consumption for cigarettes totals to 900 billion sticks in ...