Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

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Recommended: Tobacco is a public health problem

Introduction:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is preventable disease that has a detrimental effects on both the airway and lung parenchyma (Nazir & Erbland, 2009). COPD categorises emphysema and chronic bronchitis, both of which are characterised by a reduced maximum expiratory flow and slow but forced emptying of the lungs (Jeffery 1998). The disease has the one of the highest number of fatalities in the developed world due to the ever increasing amount of tobacco smokers and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality (Marx, Hockberger & Walls, 2014). Signs and symptoms that indicate the presence of the disease include a productive cough, wheezing, dyspnoea and predisposing risk factors (Edelman et al., 1992). The diagnosis of COPD is predominantly based on the results of a lung function assessment (Larsson, 2007). Chronic bronchitis is differentiated from emphysema by it's presentation of a productive cough present for a minimum of three months in two consecutive years that cannot be attributed to other pulmonary or cardiac causes (Marx, Hockberger & Walls, 2014) (Viegi et al., 2007). Whereas emphysema is defined pathologically as as the irreversible destruction without obvious fibrosis of the lung alveoli (Marx, Hockberger & Walls, 2014) (Veigi et al., 2007).It is common for emphysema and chronic bronchitis to be diagnosed concurrently owing to the similarities between the diseases (Marx, Hockberger & Walls, 2014).

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Epidemiology:

The prevalence of COPD is heavily associated with elderly persons that are predisposed to various risk factors (Viegi et al., 2001). The prevalence of these risk factors is often a major aspect in the diagnosis of the disease, the most detrimental of these being cig...

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...John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Person, A. & Mintz, M., (2006), Anatomy and Physiology of the Respiratory Tract, Disorders of the Respiratory Tract, pp. 11-17, New Jersey: Human Press Inc.

Al-Tubaikh, J., (2010), Pulmonary Emphysema, Internal Medicine, pp. 131-135, London: Springer

Husain, A., (2010), The Lung, Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, pp. 677-737, Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier

Vestbo, J., (2011), Clinical Assessment of COPD, COPD: a Guide to Diagnosis and Clinical Management, pp. 21-33, New York: Springer Science & Business Media

British Thoracic Society, (2008), Guideline for Emergency Oxygen Use in Adult Patients, Thorax: an International Journal of the Respiratory Medicine, 63 (6), DOI: 10.1136/thx.2008.102947

Lung Foundation Australia, (2014), COPD, retrieved from: http://lungfoundation.com.au/patient-area/lung-diseases/copd/

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