Lung cancer is a commonly heard phenomenon, but have you heard of a lung condition that is general and devastating known as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). It refers to an amalgamation of emphysema and chronic obstructive bronchitis, which are effect of damage to lungs from smoking or exposure to asbestos. If you are a smoker or an ex-smoker, there are chances of you developing COPD due to the harm to your lungs, which slowly limits their capacity of oxygen intake. When a cough is not just a cough? When your lungs are not performing at full competence, signs begin to emerge but they are so subtle at times that you may not recognize them easily. COPD is a progressive disease that does not slow down without treatment. It is critical to find that you are suffering with this disease hence is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.
Below are some signs that tell you that your lungs are in trouble:
1. Shortness of breath
If you are experiencing shortness of breath just do not take it as a sign of your body getting old. This could be a severe case as well. The problem is that the damage that constitutes COPD cannot be reversed, you can just stop or slow the advancement of the disease.
2. Frequent or worsening coughs
When you are infected with cold you tend to get cough as well or sometimes you just get cough. But if you feel that you are coughing frequently and they do not cure for a long time or at times become chronic. You should have a talk with your doctor. COPD creates an inflammation in the bronchial tubes as well as the alveoli, which are tiny sacs lining around the lungs, making them less flexible and elastic. This results in the thickening of walls of the airways thereby producing more mucus and clogs them. If you tend to cough up mucus which is not clear and has some color, it is an indication of your condition getting worse. The mucus may be yellow, green or at times have blood in it.
3. Morning headaches
The most unexplained symptoms of COPD include waking up with a dull, excruciating headache even after a having sound sleep at night. This is because you are not able to breathe deeply at night causing the building up of carbon dioxide while you are sleeping. This built up carbon dioxide results blood vessels in the brain to widen causing headaches.
Headaches being a common phenomenon many people do not relate it with COPD. Unless the underlying cause gets treated, you would not get cured so ensure that your lungs get enough oxygen while sleeping. Have a word with your doctor to set up a treatment routine specially designed for COPD that reduce inflammation and increases the absorbent capacity of the lungs.
4. Swollen ankles
In the advancing stages of COPD, it gets intertwined with heart failure as your circulatory system is not getting the oxygen required to be healthy. This leads to fluid buildup, which can be easily recognized as swollen feet and ankles. With the condition of lungs getting worse consistently, the hearts ability to pump blood strongly also goes down. And when enough blood is not pumped to liver and kidneys, their ability to perform their necessary functions of removing fluid as well as washing out toxins also weakens.
5. Trouble sleeping or staying asleep
Do you stack up pillows to lift your chest and head to make it convenient to breathe while sleeping? Do you sleep in a recliner to ease breathing? Or even after sleeping flat you wake up feeling dizzy or unwell. This is because lying flat compels your lungs to work harder and most people suffering from COPD have sleeping troubles and at times they do not realize that the condition of their lungs are causing it. You may also find difficulty sleeping as you may cough throughout the night, waking with interrupted sleep.
6. A barrel chest
Some doctors use an informal test to detect the progression of COPD; it is they ask you breathe with your arms raised above your head. Wondering why so? They look out for a change, which is known as barrel chest that describes a particular posture and body shape that develops as a resultant symptom of COPD.
Due to chronic inflammation, the lungs tend to become inflated thereby pushing the diaphragm downward. The chest wall also gets enlarged, causing the chest neck and muscles between the ribs to weaken resulting into condition known as accessory respiratory muscles.
7. A bluish tinge to lips or fingernails
If blood does not circulate sufficient oxygen throughout the body, your lips and fingernails develop a bluish or grayish tone. This color is known as cyanosis, is most apparently seen in the nailbeds of the patients and some people start developing on the whole grayish-blue tinge to their skin. This results due to low content of oxygen in the blood, which turns dark and bluish-colored.
Warnings
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It is interesting that if you are still smoking then your sputum creation would not increase in spite of progressing COPD but the sputum production increases once you quit.
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When the patient unconsciously tries to lean forward when sitting, with their arms on their knees or in front of them, this is an indication of barrel chest. This posture actually soothes the upper chest and shoulders and helps easy use of breathing muscles.
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In dark-skinned people, the discoloration due to low oxygen content in blood is visible in their lips, gums and mostly around the eyes. Cyanosis generally occurs when the level of oxygen drops below 90%.
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If you are noticing any of the health conditions noted above, then it is suggested to visit the doctor. Get a checkup done most probably to rule out the every single possibilities of COPD.
