L3.5: Chronic Respiratory Diseases

• ● Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD)

  ○ Airflow limitation that is not fully reversible, usually progressive

  ■ No tumor but alveoli or bronchi have an inflammation

  ● Inflammation leads to difficulty for oxygen to pass through

  ○ Associated with an abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs to noxious particles or gases
• ● Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD)

  ● Lungs undergo permanent structural change that leads to hypoxemia and hypercapnia

  ● Most at risk are the smokers

  ● Alveoli often gets loose

  ○ Too much inflate, a little deflate → air-trapping
• Hypoxemia - low level of oxygen in the blood

  Hypercapnia - too much carbon dioxide (CO2) in the blood
• Causes & Risk Factors

  ● Chronic bronchitis

  ○ Main characteristic is productive cough

  ● Emphysema

  ○ Cough is observed but there is air-trapping (loosened alveoli)
• DIAGNOSIS OF PULMONARY DISEASE

  ● Any patient who has symptoms of:

  1. Cough

  2. Sputum Production

  3. Dyspnea

  4. Hx of exposure to risk factors
• DIAGNOSIS OF PULMONARY DISEASE

  ● Spirometry

  ○ the most common type of pulmonary function or breathing test

  ○ Lung capacity

  ○ Measures tidal volume of lungs

  ■ how much air you can breathe in and out of your lungs

  ○ How easily and fastly the patient can blow the air out of the lungs.
• COMPLICATIONS OF PULMONARY DISEASE

  1. Respiratory Failure

  ● Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) Test

  ○ to identify the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood

  ○ Blood in the artery – pulsating

  2. Cardiovascular Disease
• Screening

  ● Suspect COPD in persons with the ff:

  ○ 50 years old

  ○ Smoking for many years

  ○ With symptoms of progressive and increasing shortness of breath (SOB) on exertion

  ○ Chronic productive cough