The dangers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease should not be underestimated

      The World Health Organization’s World Health Statistics Yearbook 2008, released on May 20, notes that the global burden of disease is increasingly being caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs). At this year’s 61st World Health Assembly, several WHO Member States emphasized that non-communicable diseases should be considered a major development issue and that during 2005, non-communicable diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, caused about 35 million deaths, accounting for the total number of deaths worldwide. The total number of deaths due to non-communicable diseases is projected to increase again in the next decade. Low- and middle-income countries are the most affected by these diseases, which can be largely prevented by changing four common risk factors: tobacco use, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, and harmful use of alcohol.  The health risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer are well known, but chronic respiratory disease is not well understood.  1, the harmful stimulation of the respiratory tract may aggravate the condition of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Do not think that chronic respiratory disease is very far from us, in fact, as long as the course of the disease more than 3 months of respiratory disease can be called chronic respiratory disease. The mortality rate of respiratory diseases is not only higher in remote areas than in cities, but the composition of death is even higher than that of heart disease.  Among the many chronic respiratory diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has the highest incidence. Chronic obstructive pulmonary usually includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, with cough, sputum, and even dyspnea as the main symptoms. According to epidemiological data on COPD, the prevalence of COPD among people aged 40 and above is as high as 8.2%. Every year, the number of patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease reaches 35 million, the number of deaths reaches 1 million, and the number of disabilities reaches 5-10 million.  Various harmful stimuli to the respiratory tract can aggravate the condition of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said Chaohui Tong, air pollution, inhalation of smoke and irritating gases, exhaust fumes from fossil fuels or kitchen fumes. The reason why the incidence is higher than in cities, especially in rural areas, is that rural living habits, such as heating with firewood, coal or biofuels, can produce harmful gases that can aggravate slow-onset lung disease.  A World Health Organization survey found that women exposed to indoor smoke were three times more likely to develop chronic bronchitis and other chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than women who cooked and heated with electricity, gas and other cleaner fuels. Among men, exposure to this neglected risk factor increased the risk of developing chronic respiratory disease by almost a factor of one. As a result, indoor air pollution is responsible for about 700,000 of the 2.7 million deaths caused by slow-onset lung worldwide. Smoking also contributes to the increasing incidence of COPD, and data from the 2007 edition of the Chinese Clinical Guidelines for Smoking Cessation show that smoking causes 45% of COPD deaths. The dangers of secondhand smoke should not be underestimated, as exposure to secondhand smoke can increase the prevalence of slow-onset lung and respiratory symptoms, according to a study by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Guangzhou; according to the study, an estimated 1.9 million deaths from slow-onset lung among current non-smokers in China are attributable to the dangers of secondhand smoke.  In addition, long-term living or exposure to places with harmful gases or particles such as grain dust and chemical materials, as well as keeping pets exposed to large amounts of fur dust mites and excessive renovation to inhale harmful gases can be factors in the increase of patients with slow obstruction lung.  Zhang Xiaomei said that a number of patients with slow onset of obstructive pulmonary disease are caused by the patient’s repeated colds. The change of seasons, children and elderly people’s resistance is relatively weak, less clothing, not covered tightly these are the causes of children and the elderly cold. The nasal cavity and the mouth are two organs of the human body that are in direct contact with the outside world, where the nasal cavity is in direct contact with the air, and the dirty, bacterial and fine particulate air is inhaled into the human body. The patient’s repeated colds inevitably cause respiratory infections, and a cough that is not good for a long time will transform into slow-onset lung.  Chronic cough is usually the first symptom of slow-onset lung. The cough is intermittent at first, heavier in the morning, and later in the morning and evening or throughout the day, but the cough is not significant at night. The cough is usually followed by a small amount of mucus sputum, some patients cough more in the early morning; when combined with infection, the sputum volume increases, often with purulent sputum. Shortness of breath or dyspnea is the hallmark symptom of slow-onset obstructive pulmonary disease. It appears early only when the patient has strenuous exercise, and then it gradually worsens to the point that shortness of breath is felt even during daily activities and even at rest. Some patients, especially the severe ones, have the feeling of wheezing, while a tightness in the chest occurs after strenuous exercise, which is related to the effort of breathing and the capacitive contraction of intercostal muscles and other muscles.  Therefore, active prevention and treatment of cold is the best way to prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  2, through the lung function test can determine whether it is slow lung As with other diseases, slow lung can also be screened through physical examination, physical examination can achieve the purpose of early detection, early diagnosis, early treatment, so as to delay the disease process of slow lung, promote the lesion fading and functional recovery, and maintain a better quality of life.  People with susceptibility to and risk factors for slow-onset lung should be screened: those born premature or malnourished or with recurrent respiratory infections as children, those with family history or siblings who have suffered from slow-onset lung but are asymptomatic, those with a history of chronic cough or chronic bronchitis for more than 5 years, those who have smoked continuously for more than 10 years and those with long-term occupational exposure. For normal people, a cough with sputum for more than two weeks and a chest sound during coughing should be followed by a pulmonary function test at a hospital. The results of the pulmonary function test can help determine whether or not the person is suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  The purpose of the test is to understand the physiological status of the respiratory system, to identify the mechanism and type of pulmonary dysfunction, to determine the extent of the disease, to estimate the functional reserve of the lungs, and to provide a basis for dynamic observation of the evolution of the disease process, pre-surgery or health examination. The tester only needs to blow a breath into a specific machine. This breath includes two objective indicators: maximum ventilation and time lung volume. The gas exhaled by the tester after 20 seconds of repeated breathing is already similar to the alveolar gas. And the lower the alveolar oxygen content, showing the stronger the ventilation function, and vice versa, the higher also weaker. As the alveolar breathing area can be reduced due to lung lesions, so that the diffusion of gas in the pulmonary capillaries is impaired, or due to the relationship between alveolar wall lesions, resulting in reduced gas permeability, the gas exchange function can be weakened.