Medical Minute: COPD

If you are diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), there are a wide range of COPD treatment options available. There are two primary types that are often used:

1. Short-acting bronchodilators to help relieve sudden COPD symptoms.
2. Long-acting maintenance medicines, like SYMBICORT, to help reduce inflammation and ease constriction in your airways.

In addition, vaccines, antibiotics, and a variety of nonmedicinal COPD treatments are also used. For example:

• Pulmonary rehabilitation is a structured program that can reducesymptoms of COPD. Depending on your needs, a pulmonary rehabilitation program might include exercise training, nutrition counseling, and education on special breathing techniques and other means of coping with COPD. Your doctor will know if a program like this is right for you.
• Regular exercise can increase your energy levels, improve your circulation, reduce symptoms, and increase your endurance. Talk to your doctor about how much physical activity and what kinds of activities are best for you. These might be stretching exercises, an aerobic exercise like walking, or exercise aimed at strengthening your muscles.
• Oxygen therapy is another COPD treatment option for people whose COPD is very severe. Oxygen therapy may improve exercise endurance. Knowing the level of oxygen that's in your blood helps your doctor decide if oxygen therapy is right for you.
• Surgery may be an appropriate treatment option for some people with very severe COPD. Operations performed for COPD include lung-volume reduction surgery, where parts of the lung are removed to improve breathing, and a lung transplant, where the diseased lungs are removed and replaced with the lungs of an organ donor.

Of course, there are many things you can do on your own, like talking to your doctor about stopping smoking and choosing a healthy diet. Colds, the flu, and other respiratory infections cause problems for people with COPD, so it's important that you do your best to avoid them and consider the appropriate vaccinations.