COPD Symptoms and Causes

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is the full form of COPD. This disease is a progressive one in the sense that it gets worse with the passage of time. People who suffer from this disease find breathing hard.

Cigarette smoking is said to be the leading cause of this disease. It can be even caused by exposing the lungs to various irritants that include air pollution, chemical fumes, and dust.

COPD symptoms can be caused by any disease affecting the lungs. The symptoms are pursed lip breathing, cyanosis, barrel chest, and productive cough.

When a person’s lips, nailbeds, skin tend to have a bluish tingle the person might be suffering from cyanosis. Poor supply of oxygen is cause of this.

When amount of inflammation and mucus causes the person’s airways to contract reducing the effectiveness of coughing. This is called productive cough.

The airflow through the lungs is limited, therefore it take more time for the lungs to exhale. The alveoli have lost it elasticity, and as a result of this forceful exhalation by the lungs are needed. This is done to reduce the exhalation time. Forceful exhaling increases the lung pressure and as a result in the structurally weakened airway can collapse. Pursed-lip breathing is the solution used by the body to prevent the lungs from collapsing. Pursed lips increases the time needed for exhalation taking place at the mouth level. Thus it helps prevent collapse of the lungs and helps forced exhalation, but only to an extent.

When the lungs expand it results in a barrel chest. As a result of this the diaphragm gets pushed down and loses its ability to efficiently contract. As a result of this the overall efficiency of the accessory breathing muscles is reduced. The muscles affected by this are the ones between the ribs as well as those in the neck and upper chest.

The common COPD symptoms are lower extremity edema, weight loss, hemoptysis, wheezing, chronic cough, and shortness of breath.

Other COPD symptoms include clubbing of fingers, fatigue, chest tightness, and increase in sputum production.