Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Term Paper

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a collective name of a variety of lung diseases. The disease is progressive with time and could be fatal if accurate preventive and curative measures are not taken. The progressive nature of the illness results in difficulty in breathing, which limit the involvement of the individual in carrying out the normal activities. Some of the COPD diseases include; emphysema, airways disease, and chronic bronchitis (Christensen et al., 2016). The disease affects over thirty million individuals in the US and an estimated three million people in the United Kingdom. The causes, symptoms, preventive measures and the treatments are as discussed below.
The COPD diseases are largely caused by smoking. About 90% of the COPD are caused by smoking (Christensen et al., 2016). Smoking could be active or passive. The other causes of COPD include exposure to occupational dust and chemicals. The high chemical emissions from chemical industries and the manufacturing industries may heavily contribute to a large extent on the rapid cases of COPD. COPD can also be caused by the high frequency of occurrence of lung infections in children and also from the smoke from the combustion of wood fuel and biomass. The inhalation of pollutants such as smoking cigars, cigarettes and pipes largely account on the causes of COPD. Long term exposure to the harmful pollutants in the working environment could cause lung irritations. Continuous contact with such harmful pollutants and other second-hand smoke could also result in the development of COPD.
COPD can also be caused by genetic factors. The Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency is a genetic risk factor for the infection of an emphysema2 type of COPD. The emphysema2 is due to the deficiency of the Alpha-1 Antitrypsin protein in the blood. Due to the deficiency of the Alpha-1 Antitrypsin, the lungs are attacked by the white blood cells, resulting in the deterioration. The genetic factor that can cause the occurrence of the COPD in individuals has led to the study of the genetic cause of the COPD. The study of the COPD gene, in the second phase, is to find the solutions to why individuals who are not smokers also tend to develop the COPD disease.
If an individual is affected with COPD, he or she experiences breathing difficulties. The breathing problems experienced are as a result of the airways, and the air sacs lose their elasticity and cannot accommodate more air into the lun...