SearchExclusive.com

Health Conditions,Health & Personal Care

Everything You Need to Know about COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung-related inflammatory disease that obstructs the path of air. It is considered to be the third largest cause of death among people in the country. In this disease, there is mainly a slow inflammation of the bronchioles that carries gasses to the alveoli.

It may also affect the alveolar walls thus making it difficult for the lung to carry its function normally. It is a chronic disorder that develops with age and interferes with the flow of air through the constricted air passages.

What are the Causes of COPD?

The predominant cause of COPD is long-term smoking. It is found that 20%-30% chain smokers develop the risk of having COPD in their lifetime.
COPD may include those who are non-smokers but are passively subjected to cigarette smoke. Pipe and cigar smoke are some of the recognized causes of the disease.
COPD may be due to a genetic abnormality that affects the DNA resulting in a low level of alpha-1-antitrypsin protein. It is generally secreted in the liver and gets transported to the lungs through the blood. Its main role is to protect the lungs from injury. It may affect the adults as well as children.

What are the Symptoms of COPD?
The early symptoms of COPD are mild and can be often misinterpreted to be a common cold. Some of the symptoms include the following.

A continuous and recurring cough
There might be a need to constantly clear the throat in the morning
Dyspnea or shortness of breath

The symptoms may worsen as the disease progresses. Some of the later symptoms include the following.

Chest tightness, wheezing, and shortness of breath
Intermittent fever and lack of energy
Mucous deposition in the lungs
Chronic coughing may be apparent at night
Infection caused by the deposited fluid

It may later show some other symptoms:

Swelling of ankles, legs, and feet
Loss of appetite and weight
Fatigue and the patient may find difficulty in speech and actions
There may be grey or blue nail tips that indicate low oxygen is present in the circulation.

How Can COPD be Treated?
COPD can be cured in several ways, some of which are as shown below:

Medications can effectively be used to reduce the complication of the disease.
Bronchodilators are inhaled that leads the muscle of the airways to relax. Depending on the complexity of the disease there may be long and short-acting dilators.
Steroids are either inhaled or orally taken to controls the progression of the disease. It prevents exacerbation proving to provide relief from the blockage.
Theophylline is a medicine that improves the breathing troubles.

Therapy
Therapies are done by experts to reduce COPD having moderate to severe implication.

Oxygen therapies are used to deliver oxygen to lungs with the help of devices. These are lightweight portable devices that make it efficient to be used while sleeping.
Rehabilitation programs that provide counseling and exercises to the patient to help them benefit in a natural way.

Surgery
Surgery can be an option if there is a case of severe emphysema that does not show any signs of improvement with the help of medication.

Lung transplant is an option available for specific people qualifying some criteria. This can enable the subject to have smooth respiration procedure.
Bullectomy is the surgical removal of the bullae that are the large spaces that are formed in the lungs due to the destruction of the walls of the alveoli.

Related Reading

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Most of the dogs do not have a food fuss and may eat almost anything that you feed them. Dogs are not choosy at all when it comes to food and nutrition. Hence, it is important to make sure that the food that you are purchasing for your dog is healthy. The landscape of dog food has been developing by leaps and bounds in recent times. There is a wide variety of options to choose from in the online and offline market. Given the wide range of options that are available today, buying the best dog food might seem to be a confusing task indeed. All the commercial pet food that is available in the market today is regulated by the FDA. Therefore, most of the products do contain nutritious, healthy, and safe ingredients. But it does help to know certain basic factors you should look for while buying food for your dog. Prioritize on the nutritional guarantee The best dog food, which meets the dog’s needs adequately has a statement written on the label of the product, from the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Buy from some of the best dog food brands, such as Fromm Family Foods, Earthborn Holistic, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and The Honest Kitchen.

Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

The most important aspect when designing your kitchen is deciding on the type of cabinets. In addition to functionality, kitchen cabinets score on aesthetics as well. Once the layout is planned, you can go ahead with choosing the cabinets. If you’re remodeling your home or just the kitchen, what you need to consider are the types of cabinets that furnish your kitchen. Here are a few types of kitchen cabinets that you can choose from. Base cabinets These kitchen cabinets are mounted on the floor and they are placed after checking out the floor plan. A major part of your job in the kitchen is on these base cabinets, which hold and support the countertops. These base cabinets are combined to carve out kitchen islands. A number of base cabinets are fused/set against one another and installed on site. The base cabinets, in addition to supporting the countertops, serve as drawers to hold your cutlery and appliances. Wall cabinets Mounted on the walls, these cabinets can store everything, right from your cookware to cookbooks. In terms of design, they offer utmost flexibility. Wall cabinet kitchen is available in varying heights, multiple widths, and custom depth options. This customization helps you to fit in your stuff of varying shapes and sizes into the wall cabinets.

How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

In today’s world, where you are presented with over a dozen choices for every item you would purchase for your own kitchen, it is not surprising that you have an equal number of options for your dog’s food. However, choosing the perfect brand and formula for your dog out of a range of options in the market is not an easy job. Your pet depends on you and trusts you to make the right choice for them. Therefore, it is imperative that you do your research about the products available in the market, understand what your dog needs, know what might be your pet’s problems, and then make a sound decision. What is a sensitive stomach? Dogs are known to have voracious and large appetites. Keeping that in mind, it is normal to assume that they have strong stomachs. They can eat close to anything be it sweets, bakes, chewy gum, hard leather or even woolen socks for that matter! It always so happens that the strongest of them are prone to allergies and can develop a disorder which is medically translated as a sensitive stomach. This might be due to a sudden change in the food habits or even due an infection picked up from somewhere.

All You Need to Know about Cat Food

For cat owners, cat food is a hot topic. You need to think about it in different aspects. The best thing is to know which ingredients are good for cat food and which are harmful. If you are aware of this, you can get an idea about the quality of the cat food just by going through the label. It is always sensible to stick to one brand of cat food. However, you may also want to try and prepare cat food yourself. There are also various options for wet cat food as well. Cat’s love for fish is universal, so you can do without going for expensive cat food. Nevertheless, whether you buy it or prepare cat food at home, you need to ensure that the food contains enough nutrition and calories. You would need to have some idea about the ingredients that must be present in cat food and make a worthy selection for your cat. Basic ingredients present in good cat foods Cats need a variety of nutrients to stay healthy and active; they need various vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and oils. The following is a brief explanation of the basic ingredients that should be present in cat foods.