By Vanessa Barrett BSC (Hons) Health and Sport studies. PGCE. MPH Advanced Practitioner –

Vanessa Barrett, a PhD researcher at the University of Huddersfield, is dedicated to raising awareness about Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Through her research, she aims to highlight the impact of this progressive lung condition, its causes, and the importance of early intervention. This guest blog serves as a platform to educate and inform, offering practical advice on the prevention and management of COPD.

What is COPD?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an umbrella term for a group of lung conditions that make it difficult to breathe. So, all the following terms fall under the COPD bracket.

• Emphysema is a lung condition that effects the surface area for gas exchange, which is reduced. So, this makes it harder to breath because there is damage to the air sacs in the lungs.
• Chronic bronchitis is a common condition that is associated with COPD.
• Chronic asthma in the severest group of asthma patients can be associated with COPD.

Let’s break this down into easier-to-understand chunks:

• Chronic relates to something that keeps recurring or that is progressive; you keep getting the symptoms.
• Obstructive means that there is a blockage of some kind in the airways of the lungs.
• Pulmonary relates to the chest and lung area.
• Disease suggests that it is a condition that is not going away, and it can get worse without treatment.

Why is it important to know about it?

It is a very current disease that is on the rise in the population. ‘Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide, causing 3.5 million deaths in 2021, approximately 5% of all global deaths,’ according to the World Health Organisation. So globally, COPD is recognised as a common condition which influences many aspects of peoples lives.

Now, here is a brief look at the statistics for COPD in the UK, which has become more prevalent. It affects around 1.2 million people, and an estimated two million people nationwide have the condition but are still undiagnosed.

The NHS struggles with hospital admissions as exacerbation caused from this disease accounts for 1 in 8 patients. This further impacts the GP services too, as the demand for COPD treatment accounts for 1.4 million appointments a year. More locally, in the district of Kirklees, it is the third biggest killer, causing 1 in 10 deaths, after cardiovascular disease and cancers.

Causes

The most apparent causes of people getting COPD are from smoking and air pollution, which could be from long-term exposure to harmful fumes.

It could also be from a genetic concern which makes the lungs more vulnerable to damage. You can significantly reduce your chances of developing COPD if you avoid smoking. Speak with your GP if you are concerned or to find out what treatment plans are available to help you quit.

Symptoms

Most symptoms of COPD include a persistent chesty cough, where you might even cough up phlegm as a result.

However, it mainly affects your breathing,  where you might feel like you are short of breath or find it harder to breathe. You also can experience persistent wheezing or may even suffer from frequent chest infections. Some people use the term as smokers cough to label the condition.

Do not ignore the symptoms. If it is COPD, it is best to start treatment as soon as possible before your lungs become significantly damaged. This will help to prevent the disease from progressing.

Without treatment, the symptoms can get progressively worse. If you experience any of these symptoms and want to get more advice, it is better to check with your GP and get a correct diagnosis.

Treatment can include a wide variety of medications prescribed by a GP, or you can be referred to participate in Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR). PR is a golden service provided through primary care organizations to provide exercise rehabilitation service in communities.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is created to provide a safe space to participate in low-level exercise and education, supervised by a specialist team. It provides its participants with guided care plans with goal settings to encourage behavior change.

What age of the population does it usually affect?

COPD is usually diagnosed later on in life; the average age for diagnosis is sixty-seven, but many people have the disease and are not aware of the implications to health before it gets more severe.

When COPD becomes noticeable, which can be after the age of thirty-five, you can get symptoms, but most people get diagnosed after fifty years old.

COPD is a disease that affects the middle-aged population, but some people with COPD are diagnosed at an early stage known as ‘early onset COPD.’

How can we help ourselves prevent COPD?

If you already smoke, stopping can help prevent further damage to your lungs before it starts to cause troublesome symptoms.

Living with COPD is different for each individual sufferer. It is a progressive condition, and while it cannot be cured or reversed, we can help ourselves from progressing with self-management techniques.

Treatment can take the form of medication which is prescribed by the doctor. This can help to manage the illness so that the people with COPD can have a better quality of life and continue with daily activities.

However, the best way is to benefit from the effects of doing some kind of movement, exercise or sport.

This will expand your lung capacity and get them working more efficiently, which strengthens the muscles in the diaphragm and chest area.

I would encourage you to learn beneficial breathing techniques that you can practice to help yourself, these will help you to calm the breathing down and help you to create ways to help you manage your breathlessness.

Exercising whilst living with this condition may seem daunting, as even regular breathing can be challenging some days. However, making the effort to participate in even low-intensity activity to increase your lung capacity will help you to breathe better in the long term.

COPD is a largely preventable condition, and you have the ability to self-manage your condition, which will benefit your health.

How can I practice?

You should try and keep moving every day and look after your mental health and wellbeing by doing more walking, stretching, movement or other low-level activities.

If you are interested and want to find out more about developing your self-management techniques – please take note of the research opportunity coming soon.

Research Participant Opportunity

This year, I will be developing some research which will be conducted in the Kirklees district. I am looking to recruit participants with diagnosed COPD onto this study, who live locally and want to participate in an intervention which is focusing on increasing self-management and prevention techniques.

Places are limited so please register your interest in being involved in the research as soon as possible.

The research is titled, ‘COPD MOVEMENT’ and its motto is ‘ Movement is medicine”, which describes the aim of the study. The project offers a diverse and motivating way to change our behavior through evidence-based movements and breathing exercises.

The research aims to provide different approaches to help you prevent the condition from worsening and increase awareness of how to manage it. Health promotional tools will help you understand what you need to do to help you help yourself.

Ultimately, this research will give you the skills to prolong your life and help with the quality of your life by motivating behavior change.

Please get in touch if you would like to be considered as a participant in this exciting current research or if you have a family member or friend that will benefit from taking part in the project.

Please contact me by email: vanessa.barrett@hud.ac.uk