Chronic lower respiratory disease (COPD) refers to a group of lung diseases, including emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and in some cases asthma, that cause breathing difficulties and airflow problems.

Today over fifteen million Americans have been diagnosed with COPD and in 2011 the disease was the third leading cause of death in the U.S.

Unfortunately the problem is extensive and underestimated – it is thought that another 12 million adults are affected by COPD but may not be aware they have it. 

Since the true prevalence of COPD is grossly underestimated, it’s important to understand the symptoms that accompany the disease in order to be able to intervene early.

What are the stages of COPD?

The stages of COPD are characterized by a measure of lung function, measured by a breathing test called spirometry.  The test shows how much air your lungs can hold and fast you can release air from your lungs. Results are reported as a percentage, with 100% being normal and decreasing amounts representing greater dysfunction...

via Health Works Collective 

http://healthworkscollective.com/ecaring/128271/understanding-copd-caregiver-guide

This photomicrograph depicts airway epithelial cells from lung tissue of a COPD patient. The cell nuclei have been stained to reveal IL-33, a type of signaling molecule found at high levels in COPD patients. New research shows that viral infection can induce these cells to proliferate. Release of IL-33 from these cells promotes inflammatory mucus production. These findings provide insight into the mechanisms linking acute infection to chronic inflammatory lung disease. (Source: Holtzman Lab)

Investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have described another link in the chain of events that connect acute viral infections to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Their discovery points to a new therapeutic target for COPD, an extremely common disease of the lower airways that is seen in chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

COPD affects about 12 million people in the United States, where it is the third leading cause of death. Worldwide, it is the fifth leading cause of death. It is characterized by inflammation of the lower airways and destruction of lung tissue that limit airflow and pulmonary function. No effective treatments exist to specifically address a major cause of disease advancement and death from COPD – excess inflammatory mucus that blocks airways and prevents normal breathing.

It is well established that smoke exposure is a major risk factor for COPD, but in this new research, investigators show that the cells that line the airways also can respond to viruses in a way that leads to long-term lung inflammation and mucus production that are typical of COPD.

The research, featured on the cover of the September issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, reconciles the discrepancy between the transient nature of most viral infections and the relatively permanent nature of chronic inflammatory diseases such as COPD.

Michael J. Holtzman, MD, the Selma and Herman Seldin Professor of Medicine at Washington University, has devoted much of his career to understanding the connections between environmental agents and development of chronic lung disease. Five years ago, he and his colleagues reported that a signaling molecule called interleukin-13 (IL-13) was the key driver of excess production of chronic airway mucus after viral infection. Since then, they have pursued the basis for IL-13 production and its usefulness as a marker and a target for more precise therapeutic intervention in COPD and related diseases such as asthma.

Read more at Bio Science Technology 

By Jeffrey Kopman

Coughing, wheezing, and trouble breathing are common symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but two other symptoms - depression and inflammation - might be linked in some patients, according to a study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2013 International Conference in Philadelphia.

Using depression and respiratory symptom questionnaires, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh surveyed 450 patients and found that 37 men and 49 women reported being depressed. The depressed patients were more likely to have high levels of a biomarker that can cause inflammation and pain throughout the body, the researchers found, and these levels were unrelated to the severity of COPD, but were linked to depression.

Systemic inflammation like the depressed COPD patients had can cause pain and worsen COPD symptoms. Researchers believe that the pain associated with this inflammation causes depression, more than having just COPD or other symptoms.

"Depression has been linked with a number of symptoms and comorbidities [when patients have more than one condition at the same time] in COPD patients," said Hilary Strollo, M.S., a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, in a press release. "Our findings add evidence of a strong relationship between depression and one of the hallmarks of COPD, systemic inflammation, independent of the severity of disease."

trollo believes these findings should encourage doctors to assess and treat depression in people with COPD - potentially relieving some of their COPD symptoms.

COPD affects approximately 10 percent of people worldwide, including about 13 million U.S. adults. Almost half of COPD patients are believed to have depression or other psychiatric disorders.

For critically ill patients who need ventilator support, listening to some favorite tunes could help quell anxiety levels, according to a new study.

Researchers from Ohio State University found that patients who were on acute ventilatory support because of respiratory failure had decreased anxiety when they listened to their favorite music, compared with usual care. They also required less intense and less frequent sedation when they were listening to the music.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, included 373 people from 12 intensive care units in Minnesota, who all had respiratory failure and needed to be put on ventilatory support. They spent an average of 5.7 days being part of the study.

Researchers had 126 of the participants listen to music whenever they wanted as they were getting the ventilatory support, with the help of a music therapist. Another 122 of them were able to use noise-canceling headphones whenever they wanted but not music, and the other 125 just got the usual care.

They found that those who listened to the music had lower anxiety levels than those who received the typical care. They also found that those who used the noise-canceling headphones had lower anxiety levels. However, the patients who listened to music required less frequent sedatives than those who used the noise-canceling headphones.

"Reducing anxiety and amount of sedation in mechanically ventilated patients is of the utmost importance, particularly because the result may be a decrease in the post-ICU burden, which weighs heavily on many patients, as well as numerous complications related to sedation," wrote researchers from the Universite Paris-Diderot, who did not conduct the study, in an accompanying editorial in JAMA. "The trial by Chlan et al provides preliminary data that create new possibilities forimproving the well-being of ICU patients."

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Three months of acupuncture improved breathing problems in people with chronic lung disease, in a new study from Japan.