Public Awareness on COPD - Research Paper Example

The paper will further suggest new awareness programs that should be put in place for effective public awareness of the disease. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a collection of illnesses characterized by impediment of airflow that can be linked with breathing-related symptoms for instance expectoration, unceasing cough, panting and exertional dyspnea. It is supposedly the fourth principal cause of death in the United States and can occur with or without considerable physical destruction or signs.

Conversely, the disease is frequently a silent and unrecognized disorder, mostly in its premature stages (Mannino et al, 2002). Sutherland and Cherniack (2004) also assert that COPD is a condition of continuous airflow limitation caused by lung parenchyma and persistent irritation of the airways. An increased decline in the forced expiratory volume from the standard rate in grown-ups over 30 years of age of nearly 30 ml per year to almost 60 ml per year is the prime physiological abnormality in this is disease.

The disease course starts with an asymptomatic stage in which lung function worsens without associated signs. When the Forced Expiratory Volume (FEV) has dropped to around 50 percent of the predicted standard value, the subsequent symptomatic stage occurs but it can vary. Since extensive deterioration in airflow has already taken place by the time most patients present with symptoms, it is sound to conclude that the extent of airflow limitation is only one of many factors that determine the onset of symptoms.

An extra physiological abnormality that is usually seen in patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is hyperinflation, which arises at rest and deteriorates with exercise. It is marked mainly by an increase in the functional residual capacity, placing the respiratory muscles at a mechanical disadvantage, thus raising the work of breathing and lowering exercise tolerance. Other physiological abnormalities