COPD For Dummies E-Book

Kevin Felner

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Seitenzahl: 535

Beschreibung

Make your home COPD friendly Your reassuring guide to understanding and managing COPD and getting on with your life Want to know more about COPD? This straightforward guide provides clear information about this progressive disease, explaining how to recognize the warning signs, get diagnosed, and choose the best treatment. You'll see how diet, exercise, and medication affect your symptoms and make your life easier. Discover how to: * Know your risk factors * Find the right doctors * Quit smoking, start exercising, and change your diet * Improve your overall health * Prepare for emergencies * Help loved ones with COPD

Leseprobe

COPD For Dummies®

by Kevin Felner, MD, and Meg Schneider

COPD For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2008924951

ISBN: 978-0-470-24757-0

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Authors

Kevin Felner, MD: Kevin Felner, MD, an assistant professor at New York University School of Medicine in New York City, is an expert in pulmonary and critical care medicine. He served a three-year fellowship at New York University Medical Center in pulmonary/critical care medicine and has taught medical students in his specialty (Department of Internal Medicine/ Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care) since 2004. He has earned three Teacher of the Year awards during his tenure at NYU, including being named best teacher of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care in 2005.

Before joining the NYU teaching staff, he taught at UT Southwestern Medical School and Mount Sinai Medical School, where he participated in pilot programs introducing first- and second-year medical students to effective patient interaction.

His research on lung and respiratory illnesses has been presented to the American Thoracic Society and published in journals such as the International Journal of Surgical Pathology.

Kevin earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Emory University in Atlanta, where he received, among other honors, the Mrs. L. V. (Ola) Hammack Memorial Scholarship.

Kevin lives in New York City with his wife, Galit, and their son, Liam.

Meg Schneider: Meg Schneider is an award-winning writer with more than two decades of experience in television, radio, and print journalism and public relations. Meg has authored or coauthored several books, including The Birth Order Effect for Couples (Fair Winds Press) and The Good-For-You Marriage (Adams Media). Her other book credits include two books for writers and one on casino gambling.

Meg’s journalism honors include awards from the Iowa Associated Press Managing Editors, Women in Communications, the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association, Gannett, the New York State Associated Press, and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.

A native of Iowa, Meg now lives in upstate New York.

Dedication

Kevin dedicates this book to his wife, Galit, and son, Liam, whose love and support are the foundation of all he does and aspires to.

Meg dedicates this book to Bob and Helen Abel, for whose friendship and love she is grateful beyond words.

Authors’ Acknowledgments

The tricky thing about acknowledgements is that you’re always in danger of inadvertently forgetting to mention someone who will be mortally offended at the omission. On the other hand, if, in an attempt to include everyone, you dither on about the inspiration you received from Tom This, the encouragement of Dick That, and the patience of Harry the Other, not to mention the late-night coffee-and-ice-cream-sessions with Jane So-and-So and the eternal friendship of Sally Such-and-Such, your readers get restless. “Who are these people?” they fume to themselves, anxiously skimming the pages to see where the acknowledgements section finally ends. “Get on with it already!”

So. In the interests of brevity (and at the risk of being written out of someone’s will), the authors offer their thanks to the following people:

The folks at Wiley, for recognizing the importance of arming readers with information about COPD and for supporting this book to fill that need.

Our editors, Tracy Boggier and Elizabeth Kuball, for their vision, support, patience, and dedication.

Our agent, Barb Doyen, for bringing us together on this project and acting as business partner, cheerleader, coach, and friend.

Nick Pastis, for making sure we didn’t go off the rails.

Galit and Liam Felner, for all their patience, love, and understanding.

Mark Dixon, for hanging in there through all the loopiness.

And, finally, all those we should have included by name but didn’t, for their forbearance and (we hope) forgiveness.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Elizabeth Kuball

Acquisitions Editor: Tracy Boggier

Copy Editor: Elizabeth Kuball

Editorial Program Coordinator: Erin Calligan Mooney

Technical Editor: Nicholas J. Pastis, Jr., MD

Senior Editorial Manager: Jennifer Ehrlich

Editorial Supervisor and Reprint Editor: Carmen Krikorian

Editorial Assistants: Joe Niesen, David Lutton

Art Coordinator: Alicia B. South

Cover Photo: 3DClinic

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Katie Key

Layout and Graphics: Reuben W. Davis, Alissa D. Ellet, Stephanie D. Jumper, Christine Williams

Special Art: Kathryn Born

Proofreaders: Laura Albert, Broccoli Information Management

Indexer: Broccoli Information Management

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies

Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel

Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Contents

Title

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

What You’re Not to Read

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I : Every Breath You Take: The Who, What, and Why of COPD

Chapter 1: Understanding COPD

What COPD Is and Isn’t

How COPD Affects Your Body

How COPD Affects Your Life

Chapter 2: How Your Lungs Work

Your Breathing System

Healthy Lungs versus Damaged Lungs

Factors That Influence Your Lung Function

Chapter 3: COPD Risk Factors

Risky Behaviors

Gender, Age, and Economic Status

Looking Back: Heredity and Medical History

Assessing Your Risk

Part II : Catching Your Breath: Treating COPD

Chapter 4: The Diagnosis and What It Means

Knowing Which Tests Your Doctor May Run

Ruling Out Other Lung Diseases

Assessing the Severity of Your COPD

Recognizing That There’s No Cure, Only Care

Chapter 5: The Emotional Impact of COPD

Now What Do I Do?

Letting In Your Loved Ones

Managing Stress

Finding Other Support

Developing Coping Strategies

Chapter 6: Building Your Healthcare Team

Finding a Doctor

First Stop: Your Primary-Care Physician

The Pulmonologist

The Dietitian or Nutritionist

The Occupational Therapist

The Counselor

Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Chapter 7: COPD Treatment Goals

Controlling Progression and Symptoms

Preventing and Treating Complications

Optimizing Lung Function

Chapter 8: Drug Treatments

Bronchodilators

Steroids

Combination Drugs

Mucolytic Agents

Using Inhalers Properly

Using a Nebulizer

Oxygen Therapy

Taking Your Meds Properly

Chapter 9: Surgery and Alternative Treatments

Surgical Options

Alternative Treatments

Part III : In the Next Breath: Managing Your Overall Health

Chapter 10: The First, Best Thing You Can Do: Quit Smoking

Dying for a Cigarette

Recognizing Smoke’s Effects on Your Body

What Happens When You Quit

Trying a Variety of Cessation Techniques

Chapter 11: Nutrition and Weight Management

Knowing Which Foods Help

Being Aware of Which Foods Can Hurt

Potential Problem Foods

Controlling Your Weight

Changing the Way You Eat

What a Healthy Diet Looks Like

Dietary Supplements

Chapter 12: Getting Motivated to Move

How Movement Affects Your Body

Setting Goals for Your Quality of Life

Exercise Training

Designing Your Exercise Regimen

Part IV : Breathing Easier: Living with COPD

Chapter 13: A Day in Your Life with COPD

Your Daily Rhythm

Loosening Up

Running Hot and Cold

Working with COPD

Outings with COPD

Chapter 14: Making Your Home You-Friendly

It’s All within Reach

Simplify, Simplify

On the Level

Asking for Help

Chapter 15: Clearing the Air at Home

Types of Indoor Air Pollution

Cleaning the Air

Chapter 16: Preparing for Emergencies

Suddenly Severe Symptoms

Preventing Sudden Attacks

Treating Sudden Attacks

Creating an Emergency Plan

End-of-Life Planning

Chapter 17: Helping a Loved One with COPD

Brushing Up on COPD

Understanding the Treatment

Looking At Other Ways You Can Help

Getting Involved in Medical Care

Coping with Crises

Part V : The Part of Tens

Chapter 18: Ten Things to Avoid if You Have COPD

Smoke

Fumes

High Pollution Areas

Windy, Dusty Days

Very Cold Air

High Humidity

Heavy Meals

High Sodium Content

Sick People

Overexertion

Chapter 19: Ten Myths about COPD

COPD Is a Rare Condition

COPD Is a Man’s Disease

Only Smokers Get COPD

Quitting Smoking Can Cure COPD

When You Have COPD, There’s No Reason to Quit Smoking

Children Get COPD

COPD Is Only a Problem When Symptoms Are Severe

COPD Can’t Be Treated

When You Go on Oxygen, You Have to Be on It Forever

People with COPD Can’t Live Normal Lives

Chapter 20: Ten Strategies for Coping with COPD

See Your Doctor Regularly

Set Goals for Your Daily Activity Level

Establish an Exercise Regimen

Eat Healthfully

Use Your Meds Correctly

Conserve Your Energy

Go Easy on Yourself

Find a Support Group

Do Things You Enjoy

Let Others Help

Chapter 21: Ten (Or So) Health Factors Linked with COPD

Heart Problems

Hardening of the Arteries

C-Reactive Protein Levels

High Blood Pressure

Obesity

Weight Loss

Diabetes

Osteoporosis

Barrel Chest

Pulmonary Infections

Metabolic Syndrome

Glossary

: Further Reading

Introduction

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) — involving chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both — is the fourth leading cause of death and the second leading cause of disability in the United States. Twelve million Americans have been diagnosed with COPD, and experts believe another 12 million suffer from COPD but don’t know it.

COPD is a progressive disease, meaning it develops and gets worse over time. You don’t just wake up one morning and realize you have COPD. Instead, you find that activities that used to be easy for you are harder now. You may become breathless walking upstairs, or you may have trouble carrying groceries into the house. You may not have the energy to eat at night, and this may lead to weight loss and a feeling of overall weakness. Even when you’re sitting quietly, you may feel like you can’t catch your breath.

And you may attribute all these symptoms to age, because COPD usually doesn’t begin to make itself noticed until you’re in your 40s, 50s, or 60s.

Part of the reason COPD is so severely under-diagnosed is that many physicians mistake its symptoms for other illnesses, particularly asthma. But effective treatments for asthma and COPD differ, and if you’re being treated for asthma when you really suffer from COPD, chances are, your symptoms won’t improve much.

And that leads us to another common misconception about COPD: that it cannot be treated. True, after damage is done to your lungs by smoking or other factors, that damage can’t be reversed. But when it is properly diagnosed, COPD can be treated effectively, and with the proper treatment, you don’t have to let COPD keep you from doing the things you enjoy.

About This Book

Our objective in writing this book is twofold. First, we want you to understand COPD — its causes and effects and why it makes you feel the way you do. We show you how your lungs work and how COPD interferes with your lung function. We talk about how impaired breathing affects the rest of your body. We discuss the differences between COPD and other lung diseases like asthma and tuberculosis. And we put all this technical medical stuff in plain, easy-to-understand language, so you’ll know what your doctor is talking about when he tosses off terms like alveoli and forced expiratory volume.

Second, we want you to know what you can do about COPD. Too often, people who are diagnosed with this disease feel powerless to improve their quality of life. But with the proper care and attention to your condition and your overall health, you can help yourself get the most out of living with COPD. Part of what you can do about it involves medications prescribed by your doctor — but that’s only part of it. Nutrition and exercise play big roles in treating COPD and slowing its progress, and those two areas are up to you. We give you the information you need to make wise choices when it comes to eating and physical activity. Finally, we show you ways you can adapt to your condition without letting it dictate your life. Changes in your daily routine and the way certain areas of your home are organized can make life much easier for you, preserving your sense of independence and ability to enjoy life.

Conventions Used in This Book

For the sake of consistency and readability, we use the following conventions throughout the text:

Medical and technical terms are in italics, and plain-English explanations of their meanings are nearby in the text, often in parentheses.

When we give you steps to follow in a particular order, we put the action part of each step in bold.

E-mail addresses and Web addresses are in monofont. Note: When this book was printed, some Web addresses may have needed to break across two lines of text. If that happened, rest assured that we haven’t put in any extra characters (such as hyphens) to indicate the break. So, when using one of these Web addresses, just type in exactly what you see in this book, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist.

What You’re Not to Read

This book is structured so that you can find the specific information you’re looking for without wading through a bunch of stuff you don’t care about. You don’t have to read the chapters in any particular order; you don’t even have to read all of them if you don’t want to.

Occasionally, you’ll see sidebars — shaded boxes of text that go into detail on a particular topic. You don’t have to read these if you’re not interested; skipping them won’t hamper you in understanding the rest of the text. You also can skip any information next to the Technical Stuff icon. Again, this information is presented for the intensely curious reader, but you won’t be missing anything crucial if you ignore it.

Foolish Assumptions

In putting together the information in this book, we’ve made some assumptions about you, the reader. We assume that you:

Have been diagnosed with COPD, suspect you may have COPD, or have a loved one who has COPD.

Want to understand how your lungs work and how your lung function affects the rest of your body.

Want information about what a COPD diagnosis means.

Want to understand your treatment options.

Want to know how you can manage COPD effectively with medication and lifestyle choices.

Want tips on how to make the lifestyle choices that will help you manage your COPD.

Want a convenient, comprehensive, and easy-to-understand resource that covers all this information without making you feel like a dummy.

How This Book Is Organized

We split this book into five parts to make it easier for you to find the information you’re looking for. Here’s how it’s organized.

Part I: Every Breath You Take: The Who, What, and Why of COPD

This part covers the mechanics of COPD. We talk about the two lung diseases that comprise COPD — chronic bronchitis and emphysema — as well as other lung ailments that COPD can be mistaken for. We also show you how your lungs normally work and how COPD prevents them from working properly. And we discuss various risk factors for COPD, starting with the number-one risk, smoking, and going right through other risks like exposure to airborne contaminants and a rare but serious genetic condition that almost inevitably leads to COPD.

Part II: Catching Your Breath: Treating COPD

In these chapters, we walk you through the process of diagnosing and treating COPD. We tell you what kinds of tests your doctor may order and how to help determine the severity of your condition. Because COPD patients often suffer from depression, especially when they’re first diagnosed, we talk about the common emotional reactions to a COPD diagnosis and give you tips on finding support and coping with your own emotional response.

Because COPD affects virtually every aspect of your life, we show you how to build a health-care team that can address every facet, from medical treatment to diet to exercises designed to help you breathe better. We also discuss the importance of setting goals for your treatment and how to assess your progress.

This part also covers the various medications used to treat COPD symptoms, including why they help, how to use them, and what side effects you may experience from each. We also cover surgical and alternative treatment options and discuss when these options make sense, as well as factors you and your doctor need to consider before using them.

Part III: In the Next Breath: Managing Your Overall Health

Getting the right medications for the problems in your lungs is only part of living with COPD. Quitting smoking, getting appropriate exercise, and making sure you eat a balanced diet that also provides you with enough calories are all critical components of treating your COPD. We show you how these things affect your condition (and how COPD affects these things) and provide information and tips for managing your general health as well as your COPD.

Part IV: Breathing Easier: Living with COPD

COPD robs you of energy. Simple tasks like running the vacuum, taking a stroll, even bathing and getting dressed can seem monumental when you have COPD. In this part, we provide tips for making your daily routine less tiring, showing you how to gauge your energy levels, choose clothing that’s more comfortable and meals that are more appetizing, and reorganize your home and daily routine to make life with COPD easier.

This part also provides essential information on preparing for emergencies. Here you find the signs that mean you need medical help immediately.

If you have a loved one with COPD, this part also provides a quick primer to understanding the effects of COPD. This is where you’ll find information on what you need to know about your loved one’s condition and medications, tips on how you can help your loved one manage the disease, and a guide to help you identify danger signs.

Part V: The Part of Tens

A favorite feature of For Dummies books, the Part of Tens gives you quick, easily digestible nuggets of information. Here we present our top-ten lists for living with and understanding COPD, including ten things to avoid when you have COPD and ten common myths about the disease. We also give you ten strategies for coping with COPD on a daily basis, and ten health factors that affect COPD (or vice versa).

Glossary

Although we explain any technical terms in the text, sometimes it’s easier to look up an unfamiliar word in a glossary format, rather than having to hunt through the text for the definition. This glossary is intended to be a handy and reasonably thorough guide to understanding what your doctor is talking about.

Icons Used in This Book

Throughout the book, you’ll find little icons in the margins that alert you to specific kinds of information. Here’s what each of the icons means:

This is practical information that you can use right away to make a specific task easier.

This icon indicates information that you may want to file away for future reference.

This little bomb tips you off to potential problems or dangers you should be aware of.

Because everyone’s medical needs are different, we use this icon to remind you when you should consult your physician before taking a specific course of action.

When we get into technical medical stuff, we alert you with this icon so you can skip it if you want.

Where to Go from Here

The beauty of Dummies books is that you can use them in whatever way works best for you. You can start with Chapter 1 and work your way to the last page, or you can peruse the table of contents, decide which area seems most interesting or useful to you at the moment, and start your reading there. Either way, our goal is that you find and take away a better understanding of COPD.

Still not sure where to start? Here are our recommendations:

If you’ve just been diagnosed with COPD, head to Chapter 7 for information on treatment goals. Chapter 5 can help you deal with how you feel about the diagnosis, and Chapters 8 and 9 cover various medical treatments.

If you’re trying to manage your COPD better, go to Chapter 11 for nutrition information and Chapter 12 for information on exercising with COPD.

If a loved one has COPD, start with Chapter 17 to find out what you can do to help. You also can use the information in Chapters 14 and 15 to help your loved one remain independent.

Part I

Every Breath You Take: The Who, What, and Why of COPD

In this part . . .

COPD is often misdiagnosed as asthma or another lung ailment. Because it’s a progressive disease, people often don’t notice or seek medical treatment for their symptoms until the damage is fairly well advanced. In this part, we explain the differences between COPD and other lung diseases and identify common ways in which early-stage COPD can make its presence felt.

We also take you inside your body’s respiratory system to show you how it functions when it’s healthy and when it’s not, and we look at factors that influence how well your lungs function. Then we give you detailed information about the risk factors for COPD — from smoking to gender to individual medical history — so you can assess how many of these factors apply to you.

Chapter 1

Understanding COPD

In This Chapter

Defining what COPD is and isn’t

Looking at how COPD affects your body

Understanding COPD’s impact on your life

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and the second leading cause of disability. The costs associated with COPD are enormous — more than $37 billion a year, including $20 billion a year just in direct healthcare costs. Some 12 million American adults have been diagnosed with COPD, and another 12 million may have it but don’t know it.