Asides from religious and personal reasons, some people do not smoke because they are scared of damaging their lungs and being the cause of their deaths. But surprisingly, not only smokers battle with lung infections. There are millions of individuals out there who have never smoked in their lifetimes but yet fighting with COPD; you would agree with me it is indeed a scary world right?
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is a dangerous inflammation of the lungs which narrows and obstructs airflow from the lungs. This disease is one that is not easily diagnosed because of its symptoms which are similar to symptoms of less serious diseases. The symptoms are cold, restricted airflow, thick mucus or phlegm production, wheezing, fatigue, cough, chest pain, etc.
1Give up smoking
If you are a smoker and you have already been diagnosed with COPD, then the first step for you to take is to quit smoking. This is because smoking will only aggravate the symptoms by irritating your lungs, causing inflammation and thereby leading to obstruction of airflow. Smoking increases the disease progression, aggravates the symptoms of COPD, and reduces the effectiveness of medications being used, results in more severe complications and increases patient’s death risk. Considering the aforementioned dangers of smoking, it is an infallible fact that a COPD patient who smokes has little or no chance of surviving the disease. So, do yourself a favor by quitting smoking first and foremost. [1]
