Though weight and age are major contributors to sleep apnea, genetics and facial structures play a major role as well. Drinking alcohol before bed can cause difficulty breathing, and smokers are three times more likely to develop sleep apnea as non-smokers.
Severe asthma can interfere with physical activities, interrupt sleep, reduce sleep quality, and complicate other conditions such as bronchitis or colds. On average, asthma causes children and adults to miss roughly 4 to 5 days of school or work each year.
Asthma patients need to be cautious when taking steroids to control their asthma symptoms. While on steroids, you are more susceptible to other illnesses because your immune system is suppressed. This means washing your hands frequently, avoiding touching your eyes, nose, or mouth, and avoiding others who are sick.
Statistics clearly show a strong connection between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, and aging. More than half of all people with COPD are 65 or older, according to the COPD Foundation. However, nearly 10 percent of all cases fall into the 18-44 age group. It is crucial not to discount the possibility that COPD could account for mild symptoms of coughing, wheezing and tightness in the chest.
Asthma can be caused by smoke, air pollution, mold, chemical sprays, and allergens. These elements restrict the airways and create breathing difficulties in sufferers. Asthma effects more than 25 million people annually in the US.
Doctors believe as many as 70 million people have some type of sleep-related disorder, including sleep apnea. However, as many as nine out of ten people who suffer with as long as ten-second pauses in breathing while asleep do not know they have the condition.
Bronchial asthma occurs when your airways are inflamed, triggering coughing and wheezing attacks, as well as shortness of breath. Asthma is a fairly common condition, affecting more than 22 million people in the U.S., including more than 6 million kids under the age of 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Do you know the signs and symptoms of COPD? The most common symptoms include a cough that doesn’t go away, coughing up a lot of mucus, shortness of breath, wheezing, tightness in the chest, and limitations in activity. If you are experiencing any of these signs, it’s important to get checked out.
Today there is much wider range of medication and treatment options available for asthma sufferers and the prognosis is better than years past. Many asthmatics are able to lead relatively normal, healthier lives by incorporating these treatments and lifestyle changes, including knowing what triggers to avoid.
COPD is one of the most serious pulmonary conditions and includes a variety of symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, tightness in the chest, and significant amounts of mucus produce by coughing episodes.
A healthy person takes in about 20,000 breaths a day. Together, these breaths bring in about 2,400 gallons — that’s 35 pounds — of air in one day. Over a lifetime, a person takes about 25 million breaths, inhaling 75 million gallons of air.
The trachea (windpipe) branches into tubes called bronchi, which in turn branch to become progressively smaller tubes throughout the lungs. Some of the most common types of diseases that affect the airways include: Asthma, Chronic Bronchitis, Emphysema, Acute bronchitis, Cystic fibrosis & Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
There is no cure for COPD. It is most commonly caused by smoking. An estimated 24 million people have COPD, and experts say that up to 30 percent of smokers will develop COPD. The longer you smoker, the more likely you are to develop COPD.
Chest x-rays can help doctors both diagnose and monitor treatment for various respiratory conditions such as pneumonia or cancer. X-rays can be especially helpful when a quick diagnosis is required.
How is it that COPD can fly under the radar for so many people? Experts say the early symptoms of wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath often are chalked up as signs of aging for many people. For some people, the symptoms remain at a low level for years and are barely noticeable.
An estimated 10 million Americans have some form of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Because the disease develops gradually over time, up to 7 million (70%) of those diagnosed are over the age of 45.
About 14% of new cancers that develop are lung cancer, and two-thirds of those diagnosed with the disease are age 65 or older. Over 160,000 people die from lung cancer annually in the United States. Catching the disease at an early stage improves chances of survival.
In addition to shortness of breath, coughing is a common symptom in both restrictive and obstructive lung disease. In the case of either of these conditions, the cough is dry or only produce white sputum.
Sleep apnea may be more common than you realize. Studies indicate up to 24 percent of men have sleep apnea along with about 9 percent of women. However, as much as 80 percent of people with sleep apnea go undiagnosed, experts say.
Depending on the nature of your condition, it may not be possible to completely restore your breathing to normal. Working with a pulmonary specialist can help to ensure you get the treatment you need to make breathing a little less uncomfortable.
The total internal surface area of the lungs is difficult to measure, but is around 50 square meters, about the size of one half of a tennis court. The total length of the airways inside the lungs extends to 1500 miles.
Most pulmonary doctors will tell you that smoking is one of the worst things that you can do to your body. In fact, smoking is one of the leading causes of pulmonary diseases like emphysema, pneumonia, and lung cancer.
