Give up smoking

Quitting smoking is the most effective measure to protect lung health and prevent its deterioration in any disease or respiratory symptoms.

In the case of COPD, its main cause is tobacco smoke, both in active and passive smokers. Suffice it to say that smoking cessation reduces the risk of mortality by 50% a year after quitting. On the contrary, if no action is taken to reduce the risks, and in particular to reduce exposure to tobacco smoke, it is estimated that deaths from COPD will increase by more than 30% in the next 10 years.

Read more about smoking produced by the European Lung Foundation.

There are other environmental factors:

  • Indoor air pollution (for example, that derived from the use of solid fuels in cooking and heating).
  • Outdoor air pollution.
  • Occupational exposure to dust and chemicals (vapours, irritants and gases).
  • Repeated lower respiratory tract infections in childhood.
  • Allergen exposure.

Tips for prevention

Hygiene

Having adequate and constant hygiene habits: cleanliness of the environment, personal hygiene and frequent hand washing are of great importance.

When sneezing or coughing, do so covering the inside of your arm and using a disposable tissue that should be thrown away immediately.

Never cover your mouth with your hands, and if you do, wash them immediately.

Having liquid soaps and disposable paper rolls for drying hands in the bathrooms and having gel alcohol in case soap and water are not available are other measures that help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases in schools.

Ventilate the rooms daily.

Vaccines

Influenza vaccination is recommended for most people at risk. It should be done one or two months before the onset of winter since the defenses it produces take two to three weeks to reach their optimal levels. Check with your doctor.

General recommendations

  • Avoid cooling and sudden changes in temperature, particularly the Autumn-Winter and Winter-Spring periods. Cover up properly.
  • Avoid walking barefoot on cold surfaces as the coldness of the back, chest and feet increases the probability of developing a cough, cold, etc.
  • Avoid places with a high population concentration such as cinemas, theaters, bars, buses, subways, etc.
  • In the case of children and the elderly with high fever, general weakness, difficulty breathing, persistent dry cough and muscle aches, go immediately to your health center or consult your doctor.
  • Comply with the treatment recommended by the doctor until its completion. You should not stop even if you feel better.

Early detection

Early detection is very important in order to establish the necessary measures to prevent or reduce the progression of the disease. In many cases, especially in the case of rare respiratory diseases, detection is slow and late, causing great insecurity and anguish in the patient and his family.

In the case of AAT deficiency, it is estimated that up to 3% of the population with COPD are not diagnosed and the test of a drop of blood to detect the levels and later phenotyping (that is, confirm if it is of genetic origin or not). It is very simple.

What causes the habit of smoking or smoking in the lungs?

Damages the respiratory tract

  • The airways become inflamed.
  • The tiny hair-like structures called cilia, which normally move back and forth to sweep particles out of the airways, will no longer function normally.
  • Large-bore airways will produce more mucus, which can cause a chronic cough. This is what is called chronic bronchitis and is a part of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). You will cough and produce phlegm most of the time
  • Epidemiological evidence indicates a higher prevalence of asthma particularly among female smokers compared to non-smokers. The prevalence of asthma is approximately two to three times higher in smokers.

Your quality of life worsens

After being a smoker for a while, you will start to experience tobacco-associated cough, as your body uses this mechanism as a way of trying to get rid of the toxins you inhale while smoking.

  • The airways narrow and make it difficult for air to move in and out of the lungs.
  • You will have trouble breathing and often become out of breath, a major symptom of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
  • The air sacs of the lung, called alveoli, will gradually be destroyed.
  • The oxygen you breathe passes from the alveoli into the blood, so if the alveoli are destroyed, the lungs lose the ability to provide oxygen to the body. It is what we know as emphysema, which is another part of COPD.
  • Activities in which it is important to breathe, such as sports, dancing or singing, will become increasingly difficult.
  • If you continue to smoke, you may become out of breath even at rest.
  • Less oxygen to your brain: Less oxygen in your bloodstream also causes the brain to get less oxygen than it needs to function properly. This situation can cause you to have a worse than average concentration span and can also cause dizziness.

cause deaths

  • 90% of deaths from COPD are caused by tobacco.
  • 90% of lung cancer deaths in men and almost 80% of lung cancer deaths in women are due to tobacco, since the toxic substances contained in tobacco cause cells in the airways to become malignant
  • Tobacco not only damages the lungs, but also many other vital parts of the body. It causes respiratory problems, accelerates skin aging, reduces fertility, and causes impotence.

Pasive smokers

They are those non-smokers who are exposed to passive tobacco smoke and inhale many of the carcinogens and poisons just like smokers. Non-smokers have a very low risk of developing lung cancer, but those who are exposed to secondhand smoke increase their risk of developing cancer by 20-30%.