The term chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to a group of progressive lung diseases that leave you short of breath and tired because you can't breathe. It is incurable.
COPD is a type of disease that flares up from time to time.
When you breathe in, the oxygen in the incoming air is exchanged for carbon dioxide in your blood through tiny capillaries attached to these air sacs.
When you have emphysema, the number of air sacs in your lungs is reduced or they are deformed or blocked. As a result, your lungs cannot process the exchange of oxygen for carbon dioxide. This reduced capacity compromises your ability to breathe.
When you have bronchitis, the airways in your lungs swell or become thicker than normal, causing them to become blocked or blocked.
What causes COPD?
This means that chemicals to fight foreign invaders (that may have entered your body through a cut) have been released by your immune system and are doing their job of fighting infection. Your immune system is pumping out inflammatory chemicals., which are harmful to your health.
Chronic inflammation also underlies type 2 diabetes.
The link between COPD and diabetes
There is no specific research data to show that people with COPD have a greater risk of developing diabetes or vice versa.
But, studies show that about 15% of COPD patients who are admitted to the hospital also have diabetes. In the population as a whole, the prevalence of diabetes is under 10%.
A literature search published in Cardiovascular Diabetology looked at COPD as a risk factor for developing diabetes and vice versa. The researchers concluded that there is a bidirectional risk between the two diseases.
For example, COPD causes weight gain (because you are less active) and thus increases your insulin resistance.
Omit, diabetes appears to increase the incidence of lung infections and worsen COPD by causing an increase in flare-ups.
Other research shows that high blood glucose is associated with impaired lung function. A study in Thorax showed that diabetes was associated with a reduced ability to expel air from the lungs. This association was exacerbated by smoking.
It seems highly likely that damage to the nervous system caused by diabetes (diabetic neuropathy) can weaken the respiratory muscles, making breathing shallow and less efficient... although this link between diabetes and COPD has not been proven with certainty.
How to fight COPD
There is no cure for COPD.
But, there are many things you can do to slow the progression of the disease. Many of these are the same things you should be doing to help control your diabetes.
Stop smoking
Eat a healthy diet
Exercise
Avoid polluted air
Use breathing exercises to exercise your lungs
Quitting smoking... is unwise if you have COPD. Smoking damages your lungs—it's the main reason you have COPD—and if you want to slow the progression of the disease, you need to avoid further lung damage.
Quitting smoking takes a bit of willpower, but if you are determined enough, you can do it. Additionally, several smoking cessation aids such as patches and lozenges are available if you are struggling to quit smoking.
Eating a healthy diet... means eating a plant-based diet that is low in sugar, fat, and carbohydrates, low in salt, low in GI, and high in fiber, like the anti-diabetic diet, and drinking plenty of water. This kind of diet will help you lose excess weight, which is one of the consequences of COPD, making your daily routine easier and giving you more energy to walk, and so on.
Exercise... isn't something you can't do because you have COPD. The best way to maintain lung function is to do some form of exercise.
Try walking, swimming, cycling, or yoga. But be careful not to exercise so hard that your lungs can't keep up—it could cause your symptoms to flare up.
Yoga is particularly suitable for COPD patients as it focuses on controlled breathing. Yogic breathing includes some breathing exercises that are performed during respiratory therapy.
Avoiding pollution... is another matter if you have COPD. Lungs weakened by COPD are particularly sensitive to air pollution. So heed air quality warnings and avoid situations where air quality is likely to be poor, such as dust, chemical fumes, open fires, etc.)
Breathing exercises will improve your respiratory function and thus slow the progression of COPD. Besides, breathing exercises ensure a better quality of life.
Here are three such exercises:
Breathing with pursed lips
Belly breathing
Lung muscle training
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