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End 2 of your reply posts with a question for your peers, in BOLD. You MUST include a BOLDED question that furthers the discussion and/or continues the conversation.
Student 1. What two separate diseases are the main COPD diseases? Give background on each disease. The two main COPD diseases are chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
Chronic Bronchitis is categorized as chronic inflammation and swelling of the bronchial mucosa resulting in scarring. The scarring decreases the ability to get adequate air to and from the lungs which in turn causes shortness of breath. There is an increase in mucosa so coughing up the phlegm is common. The common causes of chronic bronchitis are smoking, repeated airway infections, genetic predisposition, and inhalation of physical or chemical irritants (Banasik and Copstead, 487). Mr. Jones has a history of smoking which is one of the causes. Mr. Jones was told to stop smoking because of his recent diagnosis of Lung cancer but unfortunately, he did not stop smoking which does not help in the diagnosis and treatment plan of his lung cancer. You can treat chronic bronchitis by blocking the progression, returning the patient to optimal respiratory function. Prescribed medications can be bronchodilators and cough suppressants, inhalers, antimicrobial, corticosteroids (Banasik and Copstead, 487).
Emphysema is defined as destructive changes of the alveolar walls and abnormal enlargement of the distal sac. The air sacs in the lungs are enlarged and damaged causing breathlessness in patients with the disease. the etiology of emphysema includes smoking, air pollution, certain occupations (Banasik and Copstead, 488). Emphysema is normally associated with chronic bronchitis due to the air sacs always being infalled from chronic infection and coughing.
Student 2. What two separate diseases are the main COPD diseases? Give background on each disease.
There are two separate diseases that are the main COPD diseases: chronic bronchitis and emphysema. According to Leader, “The main difference between emphysema and chronic bronchitis are the structures of the lungs they affect. For emphysema, the damage would occur in the air sacs of the lungs, called the alveoli, while the bronchial tubes would be the structures affected by chronic bronchitis,” (2020). Emphysema causes the alveoli to weaken and burst because they are damaged. This causes the restriction of oxygen to reach the bloodstream because there is reduced surface area of the lungs.
Chronic bronchitis is the inflammation of the bronchi. This differs from emphysema because emphysema affects the alveoli. Bronchis are tubes that carry air to and from the air sacs in the lungs. It is unfortunate because both chronic bronchitis and emphysema are not curable. People who has COPD and are smoking should quit so things do not get worse. There are treatments for both to ease the symptoms and slow the progression. Life style changes and medicines are examples of treatments that help with the COPD.