How is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease managed?
How is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease managed?
COPD treatment focuses on relieving symptoms, such as coughing and breathing problems, and avoiding respiratory infections. Your provider may recommend:
- Bronchodilators: These medicines relax airways. You inhale a mist containing bronchodilators that help you breathe easier.
- Anti-inflammatory medications: You inhale steroids or take them as a pill to lower inflammation in the lungs.
- Supplemental oxygen: If blood oxygen is low (hypoxemia), you may need a portable oxygen tank to improve your oxygen levels.
- Antibiotics: COPD makes you prone to lung infections, which can further damage your weakened lungs. You may need to take antibiotics to stop a bacterial infection.
- Vaccinations: Respiratory infections are more dangerous when you have COPD. It’s especially important to get shots to prevent flu and pneumonia.
- Rehabilitation: Rehabilitation programs teach effective breathing strategies to lessen shortness of breath and on conditioning. When maintained, fitness can increase the amount you can do with the lungs you have.
- Anticholinergics: These drugs relax the muscle bands that tighten around the airways and help clear mucus from the lungs. Relaxed muscles let more air in and out. With the airways open, the mucus moves more freely and can therefore be coughed out more easily. Anticholinergics work differently and more slowly than fast-acting bronchodilators.
- Leukotriene modifiers: These medications affect leukotrienes, chemicals that occur naturally in the body that cause tightening of airway muscles and production of mucus and fluid. Leukotriene modifiers block the chemicals and decrease these reactions, helping improve airflow and reducing symptoms in some people.
- Expectorants: These products thin mucus in the airways so you can cough it out more easily. You should take these medications with about 8 ounces of water.
- Antihistamines: These medicines relieve stuffy heads, watery eyes, and sneezing. Although effective at relieving these symptoms, antihistamines can dry the air passages, making breathing difficult, as well as causing difficulty when coughing up excess mucus. Take these medications with food to reduce upset stomach.
- Antivirals: Your provider might prescribe these to treat or prevent illnesses caused by viruses, most frequently to treat or prevent influenza ("the flu"). Influenza is particularly dangerous for people who have COPD.
For severe COPD, your provider may suggest you consider a clinical trial (tests of new treatments) or lung surgery if you’re a candidate.