Recently, the old drama bone Zhang Shaohua passed away due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (hereinafter referred to as COPD), which once again aroused people's attention to this disease.
The obituary said that since the 10 years since his illness, Zhang Shaohua has been deeply troubled by the disease and has been hospitalized many times.
Why is the disease so difficult to cure? And how to prevent it?
"Five highs and one low" is easy to ignore
According to the World Health Organization's 2019 Global Health Estimates Report, COPD is the third leading cause of death worldwide. In China, every 2.5 minutes a person dies of COPD, which has the characteristics of "five highs and one low" with high prevalence, high incidence, high disability rate, high fatality rate, high economic burden rate and low awareness rate. The results of large-scale population epidemiological studies show that the prevalence of COPD in adults aged 20 years and above in China is 8.6%, 13.7% in people over 40 years old, and the prevalence of people over 60 years old has exceeded 27%, that is, 1 in every 4 people over 60 years old in China is a COPD patient. At present, the prevalence of COPD in people aged 40 and above in China ranks first in the world, and the number of people with diseases is increasing year by year.
COPD is a common preventable and treatable disease. Smoking is the most important precipitating factor, and the secondary precipitating factor is exposure to harmful gases. There is growing evidence that in many developing countries, cooking fumes and exposure to traditional biofuels can also trigger COPD.
The main symptoms of COPD are chronic cough, sputum production, shortness of breath or dyspnea, wheezing, and chest tightness, and advanced patients also have weight loss and loss of appetite. People aged 40 years and older with chronic respiratory symptoms, smoking history, occupational dust exposure, chemical exposure, biofuel smoke exposure, family history of COPD, etc., should be vigilant against COPD, and it is recommended to have a pulmonary function test once a year.
Quitting smoking early is preventable and curable
COPD is so terrible, how to prevent it?
Smoking cessation is the most critical measure for the prevention and treatment of COPD, so all smokers should be strongly encouraged and supported to quit smoking. COPD patients need to do a good job of long-term self-management, can be under the guidance of doctors to quit smoking, influenza and pneumococcal vaccine, adhere to long-term regular medication, reasonable diet, appropriate rehabilitation training, etc., these measures can effectively reduce the number of acute exacerbations and hospitalizations, maintain stability, improve the quality of life. If symptoms such as repeated coughing and frequent sputum are present, and there are COPD risk factors, pulmonary function tests should be performed to achieve early diagnosis, early detection, and early treatment.
In the treatment of COPD, we must pay attention to the following aspects:
1. Adhere to drug maintenance treatment COPD is a chronic disease and requires long-term regular medication. Oral or inhaled medication reduces the risk of symptoms and future exacerbations. Many PATIENTS with COPD usually take medication irregularly, and when the condition is slightly controlled, they reduce or stop the drug, resulting in repeated acute exacerbations and hospitalization. In fact, this is very wrong, not only the patient is suffering, but the disease progresses faster and costs more.
2. Respiratory exercise An important goal in the treatment of COPD patients is to maintain good lung function, and only by maintaining good lung function can patients have good mobility and good quality of life. Therefore, breathing function exercises are very important. Patients can perform breathing function exercises by insisting on physical activity, doing breathing yoga, breathing exercises, deep and slow abdominal resistance breathing function exercises, singing, whistling, and playing the flute.
3. Ensure nutrition Intake of sufficient high-quality protein, such as eggs, chicken breast, fish, lean beef, nuts, soy milk, etc. Enhances immunity and is effective for copernic remission.