Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Adults

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Adults

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to expand the boundaries of our knowledge by exploring some relevant information relating to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disorder characterized by the existence of an obstruction of the airways usually progressive and generally irreversible. It is caused mainly by smoke snuff and produces primary symptom, i.e. decreased respiratory capacity, progressing slowly over the years and cause significant deterioration in the quality of life of people affected and premature death. Between 20% and 25% of smokers develop the disease but the causes are unknown predisposing to development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The prevalence of COPD worldwide is between 5 and 10%, has increased in recent decades, it is more common in men than in women given the higher prevalence of smoking in men. Although this is expected to change in coming decades since the consumption of snuff in young women is significantly higher than young men (Simonds, 2005).

COPD is mainly associated with excessive smoking. Exposure to toxic fumes may also develop COPD. There are also cases, although less in developed countries, women who cook with wood fires in confined and poorly ventilated spaces. The mortality of COPD overall was in sixth place with 2.2 million deaths in 1990, providing a rising trend until the 3rd leading cause of death in 2020. A U.S. study in the period 1971 - 2000, showed that the most important change during this period was the increase in mortality in women, which increased from 20.1 / 100,000 in 1980 to 56.7 / 100,000 in 2000. In 1998 in US, COPD represents the fifth leading cause of death in men (56.3 / 100,000 population) and the eighth in women (12.3 / 100,000 population) (Seemungal, 2006).

COPD is a public health problem because of its high prevalence and progressive condition, with significant deterioration in quality of life and major economic impact on individuals and health systems. There is a worldwide increase of patients with COPD, even in countries with low prevalence of tobacco, good control of air quality and low occupational risk. COPD has been for many years, a disease whose importance as a public health problem has been undervalued due to lack of awareness of the seriousness and its magnitude. Today, it is the fourth leading cause of death in U.S. after heart disease, cancer and strokes. It was also found that among these major chronic diseases, COPD is the only one with an increase in its prevalence and mortality in recent years. The main risk factor is smoking. There is sufficient evidence of causation, both the active smoker and passive and even subjects exposed for prolonged indoor air pollution. This disease represents a significant number of hospital discharges in the countries that have studied, and is responsible for much of the expenditure associated with this disease (Rennard, 2000).

In the next section, the author will describe the pathophysiology of COPD in the ...