Pathophysiology of COPD - amazonia.fiocruz.br

Pathophysiology of COPD - did not

As a registered nurse working as a case manager within the home health care setting, I have had the opportunity to provide care to patients diagnosed with various respiratory disorders. A majority of the patients I have worked with were diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD. COPD is defined as a common preventable and treatable disease characterized by persistent airflow limitation that is usually progressive and associated with an enhanced chronic inflammatory response in the airways and the lung to noxious particles or gases Huether, Two important facts regarding this respiratory disorder include the following:. These figures detail the staggering numbers of patients living with COPD and the significant impact on patients, families, communities and the health care system. During the time that I worked with COPD patients, one of the respiratory disorders of particular interest was emphysema. I wanted to make sure I understood the disease process so I could provide the most appropriate care and teaching to my patients, families and caregivers. Emphysema is abnormal permanent enlargement of gas-exchange airways acini accompanied by destruction of alveolar walls without obvious fibrosis Huether, Pathophysiology of COPD.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD pathophysiology is a term used to describe the functional changes that occur Pathophysiolgoy the lungs as a result of the disease process. In order to better understand the lung abnormalities that are present in COPD, learn about normal lung functioning. The chest cavity contains two lungs: one on the right side of the chest and one on the left side. Each lung is https://amazonia.fiocruz.br/scdp/essay/calculus-on-manifolds-amazon/the-first-day-of-high-school-essay.php of different sections called lobes. The right lung has three lobes; the left only two. Each lobe is Pathophysiology of COPD divided into segments and lobules. The space between the lungs that contains the heart, great vessels, and esophagus is called the mediastinum.

A set of tubes, or airways, delivers oxygen to each section of the lung.

Understanding How COPD Develops and Affects Your Lung Structures

As you breathe, air enters your respiratory system through your nares. It then passes through the nasopharynx area of the throat behind the nose and the oropharynx area of the throat behind the mouth. These structures make Pathophysiology of COPD the upper airways, which are lined with ciliated mucosa. This is a protective, moist tissue layer containing tiny hair-like projections that help warm and humidify inhaled oxygen and assist in the removal Pathophysioogy foreign particles and excess mucus.

Air continues on through the larynx voice-box —a structure that connects the upper and lower airways—and then down through the trachea Pathophysiology of COPDwhich connects the larynx to the bronchi. The bronchi are larger airways of the lungs which subsequently terminate into smaller airways called bronchioles.

Together, the bronchi and bronchioles make up the bronchial tree. The bronchioles end in alveolar ducts, which lead to alveolar sacs made up of millions of alveoli. The alveoli are the primary gas-exchanging structures in the lungs, where oxygen enters the blood and carbon dioxide is removed.

The lungs are made up of spongy, elastic fibers that allow them to stretch and constrict when we breathe in and out, respectively. The Pathophysiology of COPD of the lungs is Pathopjysiology to deliver oxygen O2 to the cells and tissues of the body and to remove carbon dioxide CO2the waste product of respiration, from the blood. Oxygen, the body's most important Pathophysiology of COPD, helps your body turn the food that you eat into energy and, similar to car exhaust, CO2 is removed from your body every time you exhale. COPD is characterized by airflow limitation that is poorly reversible. Cumulative, chronic exposure to cigarette smoking is the number one cause of the diseasebut repeated exposure to secondhand smokeair pollutionand occupational exposure to coal, cotton, grain are also important risk factors.

Chronic inflammation plays a major role in COPD pathophysiology. Smoking and other airway irritants cause neutrophils, T-lymphocytes, and other inflammatory cells to accumulate in the airways.]