As I  said at the beginning of the week, I hate COPD. Technically  the disease is named chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. There is no cure for the disease. It isis the third leading cause of death in the United States. COPD robbed me of my mother. An unfortunate fact is that death will occur at some point in the span of the patient’s condition.

Here are the stages:

• Stage 1 – very mild COPD
• Stage 2 – moderate COPD
• Stage 3 – severe emphysema/chronic bronchitis ( this was the stage my mother was diagnosed at)
• Stage 4 – very severe COPD

The question many of us wonder about is whether or not a person who lives with a smoker is at risk. The answer is possibly. Breathing in constant secondhand smoke from cigarettes or e-cigarettes plays a big role in some people developing this disease. Secondhand smoke is the direct smoke that comes from a cigarette, and if constantly exposed to this, the chances for COPD become much higher.

Unfortunately some people are born with the dreaded disease .COPD is inescapable for those that are born with the alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.  When a mutation with the SERPINA1 gene occurs, the result is alph-1 antitrypsin deficiency. This causes the alpha-1 antitrypsin protein to not combat the enzyme called neutrophil elastase like it would in the body of a person without the genetic disorder. The result is the white blood cells that would normally fight infections in the body are not kept in check, and are known to attack the alveoli of the lungs, causing the sufferers to be short of breath.

Another way to get COPD, although reports say it is uncommon, is if there has been a history of asthma. If not treated properly, asthma has been shown to slowly become COPD over time.

If you would like to find out more about available treatment options, please contact The Lung Institute at  (855) 313-1149 to schedule a free consultation.

I hope this info helps.