Home treatment measures for COPD: these 5 points can keep the condition stable

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a chronic disabling lung disease. Patients in the middle and late stages often have a severe decline in lung function and cannot take in enough oxygen, which leads to a decline in their ability to live and work, and they may even have to lie in bed and rely on oxygen to maintain their lives.

Most of the disease is caused by smoking and inhalation of toxic and harmful gases. After repeated stimulation of the trachea and bronchi, leading to inflammation and infection, the lumen of the airway gradually becomes narrow and filled with mucus, making it difficult for the gas to pass smoothly into the alveoli and be used by people.

Since the chest is pulled outward during inhalation, it can partially relieve the tracheal obstruction, while the chest retracts during exhalation, aggravating the tracheal obstruction, forming a de facto valve, causing residual air to accumulate in the lungs and leading to emphysema. The waste gas such as carbon dioxide produced by the body is seriously accumulated in the lungs, causing a lot of carbon dioxide to be reabsorbed into the blood, eventually forming a common consequence of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - type II respiratory failure, that is, the oxygen in the blood decreases and the carbon dioxide increases. Excessive carbon dioxide can cause severe brain anesthesia, which can inhibit the respiratory and cardiac centers, and eventually lead to death. It is also the main cause of death in the process of charcoal suicide.



So how should COPD be treated? This depends on the stage of COPD patients. COPD is usually divided into a stable period and an acute exacerbation period. The acute exacerbation period generally requires hospitalization for comprehensive treatment, so here we will talk about maintenance treatment in the stable period.

Oxygen therapy

Lack of oxygen in patients with COPD is the main cause of damage to organs and shortened survival time, so oxygen inhalation is the most important treatment, and its effect is immediate and more effective than other drugs. Studies have shown that inhaling low-flow oxygen for 12-15 hours a day can effectively prolong the survival time of patients.


Higreen Health Home 1-9L Adjustable Oxygen Concentrator DF-013

Higreen Health Home 2-8L Adjustable Oxygen Concentrator KJR-21RW

Bronchodilators

The core lesion of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is airway stenosis and obstruction, so the key to treatment is to use bronchodilators to inhale and relieve airway obstruction. On the one hand, it can allow the sputum to be discharged smoothly, and on the other hand, it can reduce the resistance of air in and out and relieve the patient's dyspnea.

The main bronchodilators currently include selective β2 agonists and M receptor blockers. Patients in the stable period can inhale bronchodilators for a long time to maintain the stability of the disease and improve the quality of life. They can be treated with a single drug or two drugs together. Inhaled hormones can also be added to more effectively relieve airway inflammation and reduce airway obstruction.

Theophylline drugs can also relax the airway, have diuretic and cardiotonic effects. When other diastolic drugs are ineffective, theophylline drugs can also be considered to relax the airway, but the effective concentration of theophylline drugs overlaps with the toxic concentration. Some patients are prone to side effects such as palpitations and blushing after taking the drugs.

Glucocorticoids

Many people are scared of glucocorticoids and are frightened by their side effects. Indeed, long-term use of glucocorticoids, especially oral or intravenous injections, has huge side effects, which may lead to low immunity, diabetes, hypertension, centripetal obesity and even femoral head necrosis.

In fact, glucocorticoids have a wide range of effects. Diseases of multiple systems and organs in the body require glucocorticoid treatment to relieve them, and even rely on this drug to save lives. In particular, the advent of inhaled hormones has brought good news to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Inhaled hormones only work locally in the lungs and have little effect on the whole body. Long-term use rarely causes the above side effects, but you must rinse your mouth after inhalation to rinse out the hormones deposited in the throat. Most inhaled hormones are made into mixtures with β2 agonists, which are convenient to inhale and have synergistic effects, and can achieve better therapeutic effects.

Expectorant

There are many kinds of expectorants, some of which speed up the exudation of tracheal fluid and dilute sputum, some of which interrupt the mucin links in sputum and turn thick sputum into thin sputum, and some of which stimulate the movement of cilia to transport sputum. Using two expectorants with different mechanisms at the same time can speed up the removal of sputum, which is equivalent to a plumber cleaning the oil stains in the pipes. It can also help relieve airway obstruction and asthma.

Antibiotic

Infection in COPD is often unavoidable because a large amount of mucus stagnates in the trachea. The mucus contains a large amount of mucin, which is a high-nutrient substance. The lungs are connected to the outside world, and a lot of bacteria are inhaled every day. These bacteria will grow on the stagnant mucus and cause infection, which in turn produces a large amount of sputum. Therefore, for severe COPD, some macrolide antibiotics, such as azithromycin, can be taken orally for a long time, and a small dose of three-stop-four treatment can be used, which can benefit some patients.

Therefore, the treatment of COPD mainly focuses on relieving cough and expectoration, dilating bronchus and home oxygen therapy. With good maintenance, the patient may achieve a life expectancy and survival treatment similar to that of a normal person.