Ever Smoked COPD
Ever Smoked COPD
Ever Smoked COPD
www.dpp.org.uk
What you need to know
about Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Ever run out of puff halfway up the stairs? Found yourself
wheezing when you really meant to laugh? Coughed up
phlegm when you don't even have a cold?
COPD decreases the lungs’ ability to take in oxygen and remove carbon dioxide
when we breathe. As the disease gets worse, small airways within the walls of
the lungs become less elastic. Finally, the airways collapse, and become clogged
with mucus. Although air continues to reach the lungs when you breathe in, it
becomes trapped, making it difficult and uncomfortable to breathe out.
FACT: Up to three
million people in the
UK are estimated to
healthy
have COPD at any airway
one time.
airway
with COPD
Smoking is the major cause of COPD, and four out of five cases are smoking
related. Genetic factors can affect the way that smoke and other factors such
as air pollution can damage the lungs.
Practice nurses and occupational health nurses usually carry out the spirometry
test, and all you have to do is blow into a machine which measures your
breathing over a specified time.
Other tests may be required to rule out other causes of COPD-like symptoms.
These include chest X-rays and blood tests, and are most likely to be required to
confirm a COPD diagnosis made as a result of a spirometry test.
Don’t be shy; smokers sometimes feel guilty or embarrassed about seeking help
for a condition they think they might have ‘brought upon themselves’ by
smoking, but doctors would much rather they get help early and there is a lot
your surgery can do to help you manage the condition.
Take action now
It’s important that you don’t put off getting tested. COPD is a progressive
disease. This means it gets worse over time. It also means that the sooner you
give up smoking and get help, the more you increase your chances of reducing
the effect of the disease on your life.
There is no cure for COPD and it can lead to death in some cases. The good
news is it can be looked after effectively, especially if caught early.
No matter what age you are, if you’ve ever smoked and have been experiencing
breathlessness or a cough with phlegm for a few weeks, seek medical advice.
Even smokers in their early twenties with a ‘smoker’s cough’ could be
experiencing the early stages of COPD, although it could have other causes.
Once you have symptoms, continuing to smoke and failing to get treatment
leads to increased breathlessness and more chest infections. As the disease
worsens, too little oxygen reaches the lungs, leaving the heart in short supply.
This can make it difficult for the heart to work properly and can lead to
heart failure.
There are so many sources of help and support for people trying to give up
that it can be hard to know where to turn first. Here are a few suggestions:
• Any GP, practice nurse, health visitor, occupational health nurse or midwife
(if you’re pregnant) can offer advice and information about stop smoking
services or treatments like nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) that are
available on prescription.
• Pharmacists can provide on-the-spot advice and treatment without the
need to book an appointment.
• The NHS Stop Smoking Service free helpline (0800 169 0 169) is open
between 7am and 11pm every day for information requests and referrals,
with unlimited access to trained advisors giving one-to-one advice and
support from 10am.
Further information is available at www.givingupsmoking.co.uk
• Other helplines and advice sources include Quitline (call free on
0800 00 22 00, www.quit.org.uk or use QUIT’S counselling by email service
[email protected]) and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
www.ash.org.uk
Besides reducing your risk of COPD giving up smoking has many other benefits:
• Your energy levels tend to soar after 3 days off the cigarettes, and breathing
becomes much easier. You could take advantage of this by building up the
amount of exercise you do.
• Your taste buds and sense of smell improve after just two days of being
smoke-free. Make the most of this by making sure your diet is packed with
tasty fruit and veg and plenty of fluids.
• Passive smoking can have a big impact on the health of children. Children
who live with smokers are much more likely to smoke themselves, suffer
asthma attacks and chest infections and have a higher risk of cot death and
meningitis.
• Smoking can cause premature ageing of the skin with smokers in their 40s
often as wrinkly as non-smokers in their 60s.
Getting help to manage
the disease
There is a lot your doctor or nurse can do to help and advise
you to help manage the disease and improve your quality
of life.
Remember the earlier you seek help, the more your doctor
or nurse will be able to do. Treatment for COPD is often
carried out at your local GP surgery.
Further information about COPD
*Calls are charged at BT local rates. Calls from mobiles and other networks may vary.
Your service provider may charge a minimum cost per call. For patients’ safety, calls to
NHS Direct are recorded.
This leaflet contains general information produced by DPP: Developing Patient Partnerships which can
be used as the first step to help you decide the best course of action to take when you or your family
are not well. In the absence of any examination it is not possible to reliably diagnose and treat a
medical condition. Diagnosis can only be carried out by a suitably qualified health professional after a
consultation. The advice and guidance in the leaflet is the responsibility of DPP.
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