Vapor Replaces Toxic Smoke To The Benefit Of COPD Patients

March 3rd, 2010 · No Comments

by Mary Kay Rivers

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) may occur when bronchitis and emphysema co-exist. Shortness of breath due to a narrowing of the airways is the primary symptom of COPD. This disease cannot be reversed and symptoms progress in severity over time. Those who suffer from asthma may display the same symptoms but the narrowed airways are reversible for those afflicted with asthma attacks.

Smoking is the leading cause of COPD. An inflammatory response in the lungs is triggered when particles and noxious gases are inhaled with cigarette smoke. In the airways, the response is diagnosed as chronic bronchitis. Emphysema is inflammation tht affects the alveoli of the lung with a inflammation that destroys tissues.

Symptoms of COPD can worsen suddenly and result in an acute episode where the patient is struggling to breathe. Acute attacks may be triggered by inflections in the body or pollutants in the air. Tests to diagnose COPD will measure the volume of air inhaled by the patient as well as the speed of the air entering and leaving the airways as the person inhales and exhales.

Those who suffer from COPD require long term oxygen therapy. We’ve all noticed people in public who are carrying an oxygen pack or pulling a cart with an oxygen tank to help them breathe.

Although COPD is not curable there are ways to manage the disease and slow the advance of symptoms. The goal is to prevent acute attacks and provide as normal a life as possible for a patient with COPD. The primary strategy to managing COPD is for the patient to stop smoking tobacco. In addition, vaccinations may be recommended and patients may undergo rehabilitation and use inhalers as drug therapy to control symptoms.

Highly addicted tobacco smokers often ignore medical advice to stop smoking after receiving a diagnosis of COPD. They may believe they can’t quit but more often they feel it’s too late to quit as the damage to their lungs has been done. It is sad to see a person irrevocably linked to a tank of oxygen while inhaling yet more toxic tobacco smoke.

Sessions of breathing steam are part of the rehabilitation treatment for COPD. The steam increases the flow through the airways of the patient and provides at least temporary relief. Participating in rehabilitation is not always effective for those who continue to smoke two or three packs of cigarettes a day. The best electronic cigarettes now provide a real alternative for those who suffer from COPD. Many of these smokers are addicted not only to tobacco but to the total physical activity of smoking. Patches and gums do not fill the psychological need for a person whose habit includes the act of holding a cigarette, of taking draws on a cigarette and inhaling.

Highly addicted smokers suffering from COPD find e-cigarettes to be a real alternative for them. The lack of toxic smoke allows them to gain greater benefit from rehabilitation and steam therapy. E-cigs allow the smoker to inhale a vapor that tastes and feels like cigarette smoke without inhaling the harmful chemicals of burning tobacco. The popularity of e-cigs for this sector of society has grown rapidly. Patients report an increase in their quality of life and some even claim the steam vapor produce by e-cigarettes is helpful as a steam therapy. Until scientific studies are conducted, proof of advantages of the vapor are only anecdotal. it may be that simply stopping the inhalation of the additives in tobacco smoke is responsible for the improvement in patients.

About the Author:

Mary Kay Rivers has become a true expert on all facets of e-cigs. Her publications about the substance propylene glycol and about the best electronic cigarette have become well-known.

Tags: Health Products