Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD is a chronic lung disease which causes difficulty in breathing.
Chronic lung disease: People suffering from COPD find difficulty in breathing
HIGHLIGHTS
- Breathing exercise can help in dealing with chronic lung disease
- COPD patients should try and stay active
- COPD patients should work towards managing their weight
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a chronic lung disease which damages the lungs and airway tubes that are responsible for carrying air in and out of lungs. People suffering from COPD find difficulty in breathing. The condition gets worse with time as it gets increasingly difficult for air to flow through airways into the lungs. With very less physical activity, a person falls short of breaths. A COPD patient experiences rapid heartbeat and swelling in feet and ankles. People with COPD also get frequent respiratory infections, weight loss and episodes of worsening symptoms.
Photo Credit: iStockCommon symptoms of COPD include mucus filled coughing, feeling tightness in chest and shortness of breath. People with COPD become less immune to colds and infections. Smoking is considered as the major cause of COPD. People with COPD are either smokers or were smokers previously. Other causes of COPD include being exposed to lung irritants like chemical fumes, air pollution and dust.
COPD makes it difficult for a person to perform everyday tasks. It becomes difficult for them to walk and even take care of their basic hygiene. The condition is common in middle-aged and older adults.
Following are some of the most effective home remedies to treat COPD
1. Breathing exercises
Breathing exercises can effectively help a person with COPD. They can helps in reducing the feeling of breathlessness and fatigue, thereby improving the overall quality of life. Yoga includes a number of breathing exercises which can help in improving overall quality of life of COPD patients.
Also read: Are you Suffering From Asthma? A Healthy Diet Can Rescue You
2. Quit smoking
Cigarette smoke causes physical damage to lungs. Majority of deaths caused by COPD are because of smoking. Passive smokers can also experience a slow development in growth of their lungs. People who are around smokes are more prone to risks of chronic lung diseases. Quitting smoking reduces COPD complications. Lungs of COPD patients who smoke are damaged at a faster pace than usual.
Smoking and even vaping e-cigarettes should be given up by people who have COPD. Studies say that e-cigarettes reduce the body's ability to fight respiratory infections in mice. E-cigarettes can also increase risk of lung infection.
3. Manage stress
COPD patients often experience depression, stress and anxiety. Feeling negatively can affect the overall quality of life of COPD patients.
It can be dangerous for COPD patients if they get panic attacks. Panic attack can impair breathing in healthy people as well. Breathing worsens when a person with COPD gets a panic attack.
Stress can be managed by engaging in an activities that you are fond of. Practicing yoga and meditation of engaging yourself in a hobby can help in reducing stress effectively.
Also read: Foods To Eat And Avoid If You Have Asthma
4. Maintain weight
Being overweight makes your lungs and heart work harder, thus making more difficult to breathe. Thus, it is important for COPD patients to maintain proper body weight. Being overweight leads to other health problems such diabetes, sleep apnea and acid reflux.
COPD patients can maintain their weight by reducing the total number of calories they eat, including more fresh fruits and vegetables in their diet, reducing consumption of alcohol, junk food and sweet foods and increasing day-to-day physical activity.
However, being underweight too is harmful for COPD patients. Underweight people are more prone to risks of COPD mostly because they have lesser muscle strength, poor immune system and experience frequent flare-ups.
COPD patients are known to burn 10 times the number of calories while breathing. This is because breathing requires effort in COPD patients as compared to normal people.
Underweight COPD patients should have more supplement shakes in order to consume extra calories. They should eat more foods that are rich in calories like peanut butter, ice creams and desserts. They can also eat more frequently in order to gain weight.
Photo Credit: iStock5. Stay active
While staying active can be difficult for COPD patients, they should work on improving their fitness levels as it can help them breathe with ease. Jogging, walking and biking are some of the exercises which patients with COPD should try to do. Water-based exercises such as swimming can also be helpful for COPD patients. Tai chi and yoga are exercises which can help improve functioning of lungs and tolerance of exercise.
6. Essential oils
Essential oils are effective when it comes to reducing inflammation in airways. Essential oil of eucalyptus, myrtol and orange oil can effective in dealing with COPD.
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