Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - Essay Example Generally, the ultimate goal is to present a case study on a chosen patient which is diagnosed to have COPD. The case is then presented and analyzed on the basis of the physiological functions, the effects on the systemic balance of the patient, the probable care required while taking into consideration of the history and past ailments of the patient. The prevalence of lung diseases is considered as one of the concerns of the present generation of medical care. One of the respiratory diseases that cover a variety of ailments and symptomatic indications is the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The disease commonly includes lung deficiencies such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema or overlapping cases of such diseases. This disease mainly involves the increasing malfunction of the lungs mainly due to building up impediment in the respiratory passages (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute or NHLBI, 2003). One of the leading causes of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is the increasing amount of pollutants in the atmosphere and high percentage of smokers. The data gathered from study of cases related to COPD is limited but it can be surmised that due to the fact that the exposure to agents causing this ailment is relatively high, the cases of recorded COPD is only a small portion of the actual number of those affected. Based on general studies on the exposure to smoking in particular that reaches to 1.2 billion of the world population, the susceptibility of the population is related to this total number (Davis and Novotny, 1989; Sharma, 2006). Causes of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease To specifically present the possible causes of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease factors such as causative agents and susceptibility to the disease are presented. Causative agents are cigarette smoking and air pollution. On the other hand the contributing factor such as airway hyper responsiveness and Alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency are also important. These two factors determine the risk that a patient faces in relation to COPD (Sharma, 2006). One of the main reasons for the incidence of COPD is smoking. Of the recorded cases of COPD gathered from hospital records, 15% are caused by cigarette smoking. The severity of the condition and in relation to the mortality can be attributed to factors such as the age that a patient started smoking, the rate of smoking and even the exposure to other smokers. The factor such as continued smoking even in the incidence of observance of the possible indications of COPD is also considered. The highest proportion which is 90% risk of rate can be attributed to tobacco consumption. The non-smokers that are in close association to the smokers are also in great risk of acquiring lung diseases which includes asthma and deterioration of the lung processes. The pollution in the air is another causative agent in the onset and progressive development of COPD. Although this is the case, there is less effect when compared to smoking. Smoke and other particulates in the atmosphere along with the house hold consumption of fuel also contribute to the increasing incidence of lung ailments (Sharma, 2006). The susceptibility of the patients to respiratory ailments can also contribute to acquisition of the disease. The "hyper responsivene