Why doesn’t my cough get better? Do you have phlegm in your throat and often feel like you can’t breathe? Especially people over 40 years old, beware of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease creeping up on you! Pulmonary obstruction claims the lives of more than 5,000 people in Taiwan every year, but the awareness of pulmonary obstruction among Chinese people is seriously insufficient. Authoritative experts from National Taiwan University remind you to observe yourself and never ignore its dangers!
How serious is pulmonary obstruction? May become the world’s No. 1 cause of death within 10 years
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Wang Hejian, deputy director of the Cancer Center Branch of National Taiwan University Hospital and chairman of the Taiwan Society of Thoracic and Intensive Care Medicine, said that “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease” (COPD), also known as “pulmonary obstruction”, ranks as the third leading cause of death in the world. According to research It is pointed out that in the next 10 years, pulmonary obstruction will become the first cause of death in the world! Pulmonary obstruction is also among the top 10 causes of death among Chinese people all year round. Many patients think that they are old and weak and have poor trachea, but they ignore the need for early detection and medical treatment.
See more: Keep having a cold and a cough that won’t stop? Be careful because you are out of breath!70% of Taiwan’s 2 million people have asthma without knowing it. Authoritative doctors reveal 4 major warning signs
The three major symptoms of cough, phlegm and wheezing are easy to ignore and lead to acute deterioration and high mortality rate.
Professor Wang Hejian pointed out that patients with pulmonary obstruction often cough, feel phlegm in their throats, and often feel unable to breathe, wheezing or struggling to breathe. However, because the symptoms are similar to those of a common cold, many patients have “coughed and runny nose for more than half a year” and thought they were Common colds and allergies, as long as you take some cough and phlegm medicine, you will be better after a while. The recurring symptoms are due to physical weakness, poor trachea, and various myths.
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However, if pulmonary obstruction is ignored for a long time, once it worsens acutely, the consequences will be disastrous! According to research from the National Health Insurance Database, the hospitalization mortality rate for patients with acute exacerbation of pulmonary obstruction is 4%. Patients who are older or have more comorbidities have a higher hospitalization mortality rate. Even if they are discharged, the mortality rate within one year afterward is even as high as twenty two%.
Risk factors: over 40 years old, smoking, air pollution, genes
Who is at high risk for lung obstruction? Pulmonary obstruction tends to occur in people over 40 years old, and a high proportion of them are smokers. Some people who do not smoke themselves may be exposed to second-hand and third-hand smoke and may be at high risk of pulmonary obstruction. In addition, frequent exposure to air pollution can also cause lung diseases; family medical history and genetic factors are risk factors that cannot be changed by humans at present.
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2 major self-assessment tools: self-assessment questionnaire and 1-minute step-by-step test
Since the warning signs of pulmonary obstruction are often ignored and treatment is delayed, Professor Wang Hejian reminded that once you find that you have the three major symptoms of “cough, phlegm, and wheezing” for more than 3 weeks, especially if you are over 40 years old, have a history of smoking, or have long-term People who are exposed to risk factors such as second-hand smoke can use the “Pulmonary Obstruction Self-Assessment Questionnaire” to make a preliminary self-assessment.
In addition, you can also test your lung function by yourself through the “1-minute step climb”. If you are unable to climb 30 stairs in 1 minute, you should arrange a lung function test with the hospital’s chest department as soon as possible! If you can climb 30 to 50 stairs in one minute, you are not a high-risk group, but you are at moderate to severe risk, and you need to pay more attention to your lung function.
Medication for pulmonary obstruction: short-acting type for emergency treatment and long-acting type for long-term maintenance of lung function
Regardless of whether pulmonary obstruction is diagnosed or not, Professor Wang Hejian said that quitting smoking is an important measure to protect yourself and your relatives and friends around you! In terms of therapeutic medications, inhalant therapeutic medications to relieve pulmonary obstruction are currently divided into two dosage forms: short-acting and long-acting. The short-acting type is mainly used for emergency relief of symptoms during “acute attacks”; the long-acting type is used for long-term control of symptoms.
Since patients who use short-acting medicines during an acute attack will feel the effects of the medicine and their symptoms will be relieved immediately, many patients think that they only need to take the medicine during the attack. However, pulmonary obstruction requires long-term maintenance of lung function. If only short-acting drugs are used all the time, drug tolerance problems may occur. In the event of an acute attack, the drug may lose its efficacy. Therefore, Professor Wang Hejian suggested that patients with pulmonary obstruction should use long-acting drugs for daily maintenance to control their symptoms for a long time.
See more: Brother Xiaoliang has emphysema and the doctor warns that he only has 3 months left to live. He shares 3 tricks to successfully save his lungs.
◎ Photography/Lu Jiaqing
◎ Image source/provided by Dazhi Image/shutterstock
◎ Consulting expert/Dr. Wang Hejian
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2024-02-22 17:07:06
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