COPD is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The name may seem strange, but suffering from it is not exceptional. It is estimated that one in 10 people in the world has respiratory disease. It is currently the third cause of death in the world and the fourth in Spain. Approximately the 75% of patients in Spain are not diagnosed. This is something serious, it is one of the most disabling diseases that exist.
I’m sure you knew her but with another name… Does that sound familiar to you? chronic bronchitis? Well it’s the way homemade to call COPD. The good news is that It is a preventable and treatable respiratory disease.
This disease produces two things: firstly, a persistent airway obstruction, inside the bronchi, which may be more or less important. And in second place makes it difficult for air to enter and exit and is characterized by a series of chronic respiratory symptoms (shortness of breath, cough, phlegm…).
Sometimes symptoms are not given importance and they let themselves pass. In fact, it is also important to make a diagnosis with a gender perspective because although it has not traditionally been given the attention it deserves, COPD also exists in women. Currently, the underdiagnosis of this disease is higher in women than in men, being 80.6% and 74.6%, respectively.
There are a few clear risk factors, so being safe from those risk factors can help us. To start with, the obvious, avoiding inhaling tobacco smoke, air pollutants in the home and workplace, and respiratory infections. This is essential to prevent the initial development of COPD.