Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Research Paper

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a lung disease that makes breathing difficult. It is progressive which means it gets worse over time if left untreated. In COPD, less air flows in and out of the airways because of one of the following: the airways and air sacs lose their elastic quality, the walls between many of the air sacs are destroyed, the walls of the airways become thick and inflamed and/ or the airways make more mucus than usual. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/copd/ Research Question
What is the prevalence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in the primary health care and community pharmacy?

Pharmacological treatment
• Bronchodilators
• Inhaled steroids
• Combination inhalers
• Antibiotics and Theophylline
• Long therapies
Non-pharmacological treatment and management plans
• No smoking/ quit smoking
•
Genetic factors can cause people who have never smoked to develop COPD. Age is also a risk factor as well to people who are over 40 years old and have had a history of smoking.

Cause of COPD
The causes of COPD are more or less the same as the risk factors. The most common cause is smoking, which damages the lungs. Over time, when breathing smoke it irritates the airways and destroys the stretchy fibres in the lungs. Chronic bronchitis, emphysema(a form of chronic lung disease) and inhaling pollutants. Genetic factors (lack of protective protein produced by the liver called alpha-1 antitrypsin) and having a history of asthma can also be a possible risk factor. http://www.lungchicago.org/site/files/487/54229/419921/573724/COPD_Causes_and_Risk_Factors.pdf Signs and symptoms
The symptoms are long-lasting cough, wheezing, frequent coughing, tightness in the chest and difficulty in breathing. It can get worse if left untreated and not taking the right measures to either prevent or treat it.