Affecting more than 332 million people around the world, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is now considered one of the major health conditions that are suffered by people today. Low to middle-income countries especially, bear the brunt of these progressive lung disease conditions owing to a toxic environment, increased tobacco usage, lack of awareness about COPD and its treatment procedures.

While India, especially Hyderabad is blessed with remarkable healthcare facilities and COPD treatment procedures, like any other low to the middle-income country we lack the awareness of COPD which is still a foreign term until it hits at some point of time to someone we know. Being a progressive lung condition, this lack of awareness can avoid people from receiving proper adequate medical help for COPD in initial conditions. So in this blog, we make an effort to help you understand COPD and guide you towards best COPD treatment in Hyderabad. So read on:

What is COPD?

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is an umbrella term for a group of progressive lung diseases that are characterized by the persistent obstruction to the airflow. These lung diseases worsen over time gradually leading to breathlessness for the patient and when left untreated can turn out to be a life-threatening condition.

As said COPD refers to the group of lung diseases of which Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema are most common types. While Chronic Bronchitis causes inflammation to the airways (bronchi), Emphysema damages the alveoli, the air sacs making it harder for the lungs to breathe.

What are the symptoms of COPD?

Symptoms of COPD can vary from patient to patient, but for every patient, the symptoms start slowly and gradually intensify. The most common COPD symptoms are cough, shortness of breath, squeaking or wheezing while breathing, frequent colds, tightness in chest, fatigue, low energy, swollen ankles, feet or legs etc. Over time these symptoms worsen and also may come and go in a few milder cases and can suddenly exacerbate at some point in time.

What causes COPD? Can COPD be cured?

Volumes of medical research conducted over the years on the risk factors of COPD have pointed strongly towards one direction: smoking. Long continued exposure to toxic pollutants, environment pollution and even second-hand smoke are also found to be the risk factors for COPD.

The patients with COPD are categorized into mild, moderate, severe and very severe based on the damage to the lungs and symptoms of the patient. Unfortunately, the damage done to the lungs by COPD is not exactly reversible and hence there is no complete cure for COPD. However, with COPD treatment procedures when coupled with healthy life style changes, the symptoms of the diseases can be significantly eased and the diseases can be stopped from progression. Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Lung Specialist, Dr Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale has helped thousands of patients in this regard and if you are looking for COPD treatment procedures in Hyderabad you can contact lung specialist, Dr Gokhale here: http://www.drgokhale.com/team-members/agk.html