Elderly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease cannot be cured
Clinically, COPD is more common in the elderly. However, some elderly patients may only have mild symptoms such as cough, sputum, chest tightness, or even mild breathing difficulties in the early stage; when the disease gradually worsens, the patients will have obvious and persistent symptoms of dyspnea, or even pulmonary encephalopathy. It also affects the liver and kidneys.
COPD can be relieved, but it cannot be cured completely. The characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is that it gets worse in autumn and winter, and it may cause more serious complications such as respiratory failure when the resistance is weak and the respiratory tract infection. Therefore, the elderly with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease should be actively treated. However, the elderly and young people have different tolerances to drugs. For example, 40-50 year-old COPD patients can use hormones to achieve good results; if the elderly blindly use hormones, they may cause repeated infections, but the harm is greater Profit. Therefore, great attention must be paid to elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and symptomatic treatments such as anti-infection, relieving cough and phlegm, relieving asthma, and inhaling oxygen should be given clinically to alleviate the discomfort of patients and improve the quality of life of patients.
Currently only smoking cessation can stop the progression of the disease
Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are seriously ill in the exacerbation stage, often complicated by heart failure, respiratory failure, and even pulmonary encephalopathy. Therefore, they should go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment by a respiratory physician and, if necessary, be hospitalized.
However, the patient need not be too pessimistic. Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is irreversible, it is controllable. As long as it is properly maintained, successfully quit smoking, and use supportive therapy to stop the disease from progressing, it is entirely possible to improve the quality of life and prolong survival. This is also the reason why some COPD patients can live longer.
Nine Attentions for Patient Maintenance
1. In the acute exacerbation period, anti-infective treatment should be carried out under the guidance of a doctor. Pay attention to oxygen, the blood oxygen saturation is required to reach 92% or more. If you inhale oxygen at home, you should use a low flow rate instead of a high concentration.
2. If the airway is obstructed and carbon dioxide is not easily discharged, hypercapnia will occur. Oxygen is not enough at this time. A ventilator must be used to expel carbon dioxide quickly.
3. Don't go out in the foggy weather. The main components of haze are various floating particles and fine particles, especially fine particles (PM2.5) with small diameter, which can enter the lower respiratory tract and even the alveoli with breathing, which is extremely harmful to the human body. Someone has done research and found that PM2.5 has a great relationship with the outpatient volume of COPD clinics, which can aggravate the COPD condition, even cause the acute exacerbation of the disease, and reduce lung function.
4. Go to less crowded places, including chess and card rooms, vegetable markets, and crowded tourist attractions. The crowded place is usually the place where the bacteria converge. The respiratory tract immunity of patients with COPD is low, and it is easy to be infected with germs and aggravate the airway inflammation. In addition, patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can travel, but try not to choose a place that is cold in the northwest and has a higher altitude. Humid, warm air is good for the lungs.
5. Quit smoking and drinking. Tobacco and alcohol are harmful to the lungs. Not only is the patient not allowed to smoke, but it is also not suitable for social gatherings with a large number of participants and smoking. Secondhand smoke has no less impact on the human body than smoking itself. This is especially important.
6. Pay attention to rest and nutrition. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a systemic wasting disease, which may cause a person's dietary ability to decline, and body weight loss is abnormal. The global treatment guidelines for COPD point out that obese COPD patients generally have a higher life expectancy than wasted patients. Weight loss and insufficient respiratory muscle strength will aggravate COPD’s retention of hypoxia and carbon dioxide and make the condition more serious.
7. Avoid eating spicy and allergic foods. Spicy food can stimulate the upper respiratory tract, destroy local immunity, cause upper respiratory tract infection, and aggravate COPD. Regular consumption of foods that are prone to allergies may aggravate the COPD condition and reduce the effectiveness of the drug.
8. Inject pneumonia vaccine and flu vaccine. The most important thing for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is to prevent and avoid infection, especially to avoid colds and pneumonia. Pneumonia vaccine and flu vaccine can help prevent infection.
9. If complications occur, they should be treated for the complications. If heart failure requires comprehensive and targeted treatment with diuretics, the acute exacerbation period should be administered under the guidance of a doctor, and hospitalization should be required if necessary.
