Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a chronic lung condition that makes it difficult for people to breathe. It affects millions of people worldwide, and symptoms can be worsened during the spring season due to environmental factors such as increased pollen levels and changes in temperature. 

If you're living with COPD, it's important to take steps to maintain your health and manage your symptoms during this time of year. In this blog post, we'll discuss some tips for maintaining a healthy life while living with COPD during the spring season.

Avoid Outdoor Triggers

During the spring season, pollen levels are typically higher, which can exacerbate COPD symptoms. Try to stay indoors as much as possible on days when pollen counts are high. Keep windows and doors closed to prevent pollen from entering your home, and use an air purifier with a HEPA filter to help remove airborne allergens. You may also want to avoid using fans or air conditioning units that can circulate pollen and other allergens around your home.

Exercise Regularly

Regular exercise is an important part of managing COPD symptoms and maintaining overall health. However, it's important to be cautious when exercising during the spring season, as changes in temperature and air quality can make it more difficult to breathe. 

If you're planning to exercise outdoors, try to do so early in the morning or in the evening when pollen levels are lower. You may also want to consider wearing a face mask or scarf to help filter out airborne allergens. If you're unsure about exercising outdoors, consider joining a gym or participating in indoor exercise classes instead.

Stay Hydrated

Staying hydrated is important for everyone, but it's especially important for people living with COPD. Drinking plenty of water can help thin mucus in the lungs and make it easier to breathe.

Additionally, if you're taking medications for COPD, staying hydrated can help ensure that they are properly absorbed by your body. Aim to drink at least eight glasses of water per day, and consider carrying a water bottle with you throughout the day to remind yourself to stay hydrated.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Eating a healthy diet can help support your overall health and manage COPD symptoms. Aim to eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats.

Avoid processed foods, sugary drinks, and foods high in saturated and trans fats, as these can contribute to inflammation and worsen COPD symptoms. If you're struggling to maintain a healthy diet, consider working with a registered dietitian who can provide personalized recommendations and support.

Manage Stress

Living with a chronic illness like COPD can be stressful, and stress can exacerbate symptoms. It's important to find ways to manage stress and prioritize self-care. Some strategies for managing stress include practicing mindfulness, deep breathing exercises, meditation, and yoga. Additionally, it's important to make time for activities you enjoy and to prioritize rest and relaxation.

Follow your Treatment Plan

If you're living with COPD, it's important to work closely with your healthcare provider to develop a treatment plan that's right for you. This may include medications, oxygen therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation, and other treatments.

Be sure to follow your treatment plan as prescribed, and let your healthcare provider know if you're experiencing any changes in symptoms or if you have any concerns about your treatment.

Get Vaccinated

People living with COPD are at increased risk for complications from respiratory infections, including influenza and pneumonia. It's important to get vaccinated to help protect against these illnesses. Talk to your healthcare provider about which vaccines are recommended for you and when you should receive them.

Monitor your Symptoms

It's important to monitor your symptoms and seek medical attention if you experience any changes

Increasing Oxygen Levels 

As humans, oxygen is one of the most important elements for our survival. Our bodies require a constant supply of oxygen to function correctly. However, some people suffer from conditions that make it difficult for them to breathe properly, leading to low oxygen levels in their blood. 

This condition, known as hypoxemia, can cause serious health problems if left untreated. Fortunately, the advent of portable oxygen concentrators (POCs) has made it easier for people with low oxygen levels to manage their condition and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

A portable oxygen concentrator is a small, lightweight device that can be carried around and used to provide a continuous supply of oxygen. The device works by taking in air from the environment, filtering out nitrogen and other gases, and delivering purified oxygen to the user. POCs are battery-powered and can be recharged, making them ideal for people who need oxygen therapy on-the-go.

One of the most significant benefits of using a portable oxygen concentrator is the increase in blood oxygen levels that it provides. When someone with hypoxemia uses a POC, the device ensures that they are getting a steady supply of oxygen. This increase in oxygen helps to raise the oxygen levels in their blood, which can have a range of health benefits.

One of the most immediate benefits of increased blood oxygen levels is that it can reduce feelings of fatigue and exhaustion. Hypoxemia can make it difficult for the body to carry out everyday tasks, leading to a lack of energy and motivation. 

However, by using a portable oxygen concentrator, individuals with hypoxemia can ensure that their body is getting the oxygen it needs to function correctly, reducing feelings of tiredness and improving their quality of life.

Another benefit of using a portable oxygen concentrator is that it can improve cognitive function. When the brain is not receiving enough oxygen, it can lead to confusion, forgetfulness, and other cognitive problems. By increasing the amount of oxygen in the blood, a POC can help to improve cognitive function, allowing individuals to think more clearly and stay focused.

Using a portable oxygen concentrator can also help to reduce the risk of further health problems. Hypoxemia can cause a range of health issues, including damage to vital organs such as the heart and brain. By using a POC to increase blood oxygen levels, individuals can reduce the risk of further complications and ensure that their body is receiving the oxygen it needs to stay healthy.

A portable oxygen concentrator is an essential device for individuals who suffer from hypoxemia. By providing a steady supply of oxygen, a POC can help to increase blood oxygen levels, reduce feelings of fatigue and exhaustion, improve cognitive function, and reduce the risk of further health problems. If you or a loved one suffers from hypoxemia, speak to your doctor about whether a portable oxygen concentrator may be right for you. 

With the help of a POC, you can manage your condition and maintain a healthy, active lifestyle.

The Best Portable Oxygen Concentrator for Treating COPD 

The ARYA Airvito Max portable oxygen concentrator from LPT Medical can help control COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) symptoms in the spring by providing supplemental oxygen to those who suffer from breathing difficulties.

Spring can be a challenging season for COPD patients, as the air is often filled with pollen, dust, and other allergens that can exacerbate their symptoms. The ARYA Airvito Max is designed to provide a constant flow of oxygen, which can help alleviate shortness of breath, fatigue, and other COPD symptoms caused by these environmental triggers.

Using the ARYA Airvito Max portable oxygen concentrator can also help COPD patients maintain their daily activities, even when the air quality is poor. 

This device is compact and lightweight, making it easy to carry around and use wherever you go. It provides a steady stream of oxygen that can help increase stamina, reduce fatigue, and improve overall quality of life.

It's important to note that the ARYA Airvito Max is a medical device and should only be used under the supervision of a healthcare professional. They can help determine the appropriate oxygen flow rate for your individual needs and guide you in using the device correctly. 

If you have COPD and are experiencing symptoms in the spring, it may be worth considering using a portable oxygen concentrator like the ARYA Airvito Max to help manage your condition.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, while spring can pose some challenges for individuals with COPD, there are several ways to maintain good health and enjoy the season. Taking precautions to avoid respiratory irritants, staying hydrated, eating a healthy diet, and staying active can all help reduce symptoms and improve overall health. 

Additionally, following a COPD management plan and working closely with healthcare providers can provide guidance on how to manage symptoms and prevent exacerbations. By taking these steps, individuals with COPD can continue to lead healthy and active lives during the spring and beyond.

Also remember that the ARYA Airvito Max portable oxygen concentrator can provide significant relief to COPD patients by delivering a steady flow of oxygen to their lungs. This device is designed to be lightweight, portable, and user-friendly, which makes it easy for patients to use at home or on the go.

By providing the required amount of oxygen, the ARYA Airvito Max can help ease COPD symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, and confusion, enabling patients to engage in their daily activities with ease. Overall, this device is a reliable and effective solution for COPD patients who need supplemental oxygen therapy to manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life.

If you are a parent or guardian, then you know what it's like to worry about your children's health, whether it's concern about illnesses, unhealthy environments, or risk for future disease. This worry is natural, and even rational, as early childhood experiences can have an effect your children's long-term health.

Childhood is a particularly vulnerable time for young lungs, in fact, which are much smaller, narrower, and more susceptible to injury compared to adult lungs. Because of this, children's lungs need extra protection from illness and airborne hazards like pollution and smoke.

Unfortunately, lung damage sustained during childhood can significantly increase a child's risk for asthma and lung problems later in life. It can even set the stage for more serious lung conditions that appear in older adulthood, including COPD.

Fortunately, there are a variety of different precautions you can take to minimize your child's risk for lung damage and disease. But in order to do so, you first need to understand children's lung sensitivities and how to recognize a variety of different substances and activities and that are hazardous to their lungs.

That's why we created this guide specifically for parents who want to know how to keep their children's lungs safe and healthy as they grow. It includes dozens of practical tips for reducing the number of respiratory hazards in your child's lives and helpful strategies for creating a more lung-healthy home.

We'll start by explaining how illnesses, environment, and lifestyle can affect your children's lungs and even pre-dispose them to lung problems later in life. Then, we'll explain how to make some simple changes to household habits and routines in order to minimize your children's exposure to respiratory irritants at home.

Finally, we'll discuss what you can do to prepare your children with the knowledge and values they need to take care of their lungs for the rest of their life. In these sections, you'll find helpful advice (curated from experts) for talking to your kids about smoking, as well as additional tips for teaching them the skills they need for good respiratory health.

Why Worry About Lung Disease So Young?

Most serious lung diseases, like COPD, begin in older adulthood, which is usually when the first major symptoms start to appear. Because of this, it might seem strange to start worrying about lung disease so early in your child's life.

However, it's important to understand that COPD is caused by lung damage, and lung damage that leads to COPD usually happens much earlier in life. However, because COPD tends to develop very slowly over the course of many years, the results of that damage might take decades to show.

Most cases of COPD are caused by smoking, but research shows that many other factors besides smoking can contribute to the disease. These factors include early childhood experiences, including respiratory infections and exposure to environmental hazards like smoke.

Because children's lungs are small and still developing, they are even more sensitive to these hazards than adults. This makes them more likely to sustain lung damage from breathing toxic substances, and also increases the risk that this damage will result in long-term effects.

This is also one of the reasons why children develop asthma during childhood, and sometimes later as adults. After all, experts have long known that a child's risk for asthma is strongly influenced by illnesses and harmful substances in their environment.

Because of this, it's particularly important to protect children from lung-damaging substances early in life. Doing so can reduce their risk for lung problems in adulthood, both minor (e.g. reduced overall lung function) and severe (e.g. COPD).

If you are a parent who has COPD, or if you know a loved one with the disease, then you probably have an idea of how terrible and painful it can be. Fortunately, if you are willing to take action in your home and in other areas of your children's lives, you can significantly reduce their risk for lung problems both now and later in life.

Is Your Child At Risk for Lung Disease?

Now that we've established that children's lungs are vulnerable at an early age, let's take a closer look at what specific kinds of things can put their respiratory health at risk. Researchers have identified a number of early childhood risk factors for asthma, COPD, and other lung diseases, most of which you can prevent.

Exposure to Air Pollution and Respiratory Irritants

There are many different kinds of substances that can damage the lungs when you breathe them in, including noxious chemicals, gases, and small airborne particles. Unfortunately, we encounter many of these substances every single day both outdoors and inside our own homes.

Because of this, it's not realistic to avoid respiratory irritants entirely; however, you can take steps to minimize how much and how often your children breathe them in. This is particularly important if your child has asthma or another respiratory condition that makes their lungs extra sensitive to irritation.

Fortunately, there are many things you can do to reduce the amount of air pollution and other respiratory irritants your children are exposed to at home. In fact, we'll show you a variety of practical tips and techniques later in this guide to help you make your house a safer environment for developing lungs.

Common respiratory irritants include:

• Air pollution (both indoors and outdoors)
• Fumes from wood-burning fireplaces and stoves
• Chemical fumes from cleaning solutions and household chemicals
• Volatile Organic Compounds (or VOC's) found in products like paints, solvents, perfumes, pesticides, and chemically treated lumber
• Smoke and second-hand smoke

This list covers only a few of many potential respiratory hazards that could affect your children's lungs. We'll go over many more examples, including specific household sources of respiratory irritants, all throughout this guide.

Childhood Asthma

If your child suffers from asthma, that factor alone can make them more likely to develop COPD later in life. In fact, research has established a very strong link between asthma and COPD, especially severe and persistent childhood asthma.

This connection is at least partially caused by chronic inflammation in the lungs and airways, a symptom that both asthma and COPD share. Over time, the inflammation caused by asthma can cause irreversible changes to lung tissues, resulting in airway obstruction and permanent lung function loss.

In other words, asthma can cause the exact same type of lung damage that leads to COPD.

This is known as Asthma-COPD Overlap Syndrome, and it's more common in children who experience severe and frequent asthma symptoms. The risk is much lower for children whose symptoms are mild or well controlled.

Unfortunately, having asthma also makes your child's lungs more susceptible to the damaging effects of respiratory irritants (also known as asthma triggers) like allergens, cooking fumes, and smoke. This means that a child with asthma has a higher risk for COPD if they are repeatedly exposed to these hazards.

Respiratory Infections

Research shows that children who have severe respiratory infections—such as pneumonia and bronchitis—in early childhood are more likely to develop COPD in adulthood. The reason for this is that lung infections can damage the delicate, under-developed tissues in a child's lungs, resulting in respiratory decline and sensitivity that can last for the rest of their lives.

One study, for example, found that people who had a serious respiratory infection before the age of five were more likely to have reduced lung function and asthma in adulthood. It also made them more susceptible to the negative effects of second-hand smoke, which can cause severe asthma symptoms and permanent lung function decline.

The risk for for respiratory problems is higher for children whose infections are severe, repeated, or occur at a very early age. Unfortunately, all of the factors we've mentioned—serious lung infections, asthma, and reduced lung function—are all factors that can increase a child's risk for COPD.

Exposure to Smoke and Second-Hand Smoke

Repeated exposure to second-hand smoke is hard on developing lungs, and it can cause measurable, long-term damage that persists into adulthood. It can also make a child's lungs more prone to future damage, which increases the health dangers of smoking—and exposure to other respiratory irritants—for the rest of their life.

Research shows children who were frequently exposed to second-hand smoke grow up to have poorer lung function in adulthood. These children are also more likely to develop COPD decades later, even if they stay smoke-free throughout their lives.

Even smoking while pregnant (or simply being exposed to second-hand smoke during pregnancy) can affect your child's long-term health. For example, children born to mothers who smoked while they were pregnant may suffer from permanently reduced lung function and a higher risk for respiratory conditions like asthma and COPD.

However, the potential for respiratory problems is only one of many reasons why you should protect your child from second-hand smoke. Research shows that second-hand smoke exposure during childhood can lead to a variety of serious health problems later in life, including high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.

Here is a more extensive list of health problems caused by childhood exposure to second-hand smoke:

• Ear infections
• Tooth decay
• Illnesses like coughs and colds
• Respiratory infections like pneumonia and bronchitis
• Increased risk of developing asthma
• Increased risk of cognitive problems and learning disabilities
• Increased risk for ADHD
• Increased risk for heart disease later in life
• Increased risk of being a smoker
• Acute respiratory symptoms, including:
• coughing
• wheezing
• breathlessness
• phlegm

Negative health problems caused by smoking during pregnancy:

• Lower birth weight (which can lead to other health complications)
• Increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
• Increased risk for miscarriage and stillbirth
• Increased risk for developmental problems, including learning disabilities
• Reduced lung function
• Increased risk for asthma and other lung conditions

Early Prevention is Key

It's important to realize that lung damage is cumulative, which means that repeated exposure to lung-damaging particles and environments can add up over time. Too much exposure to respiratory hazards over the course of a lifetime can trigger COPD, even if no single event or exposure can be traced back as the cause.

Most people only get COPD from smoking or from exposure to other airborne substances (e.g. chemical fumes and second-hand smoke) if it happens repeatedly over an extended period of time. But because COPD is such a slow-moving disease, it usually takes years for the long-term damage to show.

Part of the reason it takes so long is that lungs are extremely resilient; they have enough extra capacity built in to compensate for a lot of damage. You can lose a surprising amount of lung function before it begins to noticeably affect your ability to breathe.

Unfortunately, this also means that it's impossible to know whether or not you have COPD until your lungs have already been severely damaged by the disease. You have to lose a large percentage of your lung function before you can be diagnosed with COPD, and it's notoriously difficult to catch in the early stages.

Because of this—and the fact that there is no cure for COPD—prevention is absolutely key. The only true way to prevent COPD, however, is to protect your lungs from hazards like air pollution and smoke as much as possible throughout your life.

This should begin in early childhood, when the lungs are particularly vulnerable to the environment. In fact, it should begin in pregnancy, when any harmful substances a mother gets exposed to can lead to health problems after the baby is born.

How to Reduce Early Childhood Risk Factors for Lung Problems

Fortunately, most of the major childhood risk factors for asthma and COPD are preventable as long as you take the right precautions. Let's take a look at some specific actions you can take while your children are young to minimize their lung disease risks.

Quit Smoking

If you are a smoker, then quitting is—by far—the best thing you can do to keep your children's lungs healthy and safe. After all, research shows that parents are the main source of second-hand smoke exposure during childhood, and that simply living with a parent who smokes can significantly increase a child's risk for lung disease later in life.

One study, for example, found that children who live with a smoker are 31 percent more likely to die from COPD as adults. Smoking can also have an immediate effect on your child's respiratory health, increasing their risk for lung infections and respiratory illness-related hospitalizations.

According to the EPA, second-hand smoke causes up to 300,000 extra cases of lower respiratory tract infections in children under 18 months of age. As we discussed earlier in this guide, childhood respiratory infections are another major risk factor for developing COPD.

Minimize Your Child's Exposure to Outdoor Air Pollution

Outdoor air pollution is a common respiratory hazard that can cause serious damage to lungs. Air pollution is even more dangerous for children because, in addition to being more vulnerable to lung damage, children get higher doses of air pollution due to their faster breathing rate.

In fact, one major air pollution study (pdf link) found that children who grow up in areas with higher than normal outdoor pollution experienced permanent respiratory decline. Their lungs not only developed more slowly than usual, but also functioned less effectively as adults.

Children with asthma are even more sensitive to air pollution, which can exacerbate asthma symptoms and make them more likely to develop other lung problems like bronchitis and COPD. In many cases, the effects of air pollution are irreversible, which means that children who are exposed to heavy air pollution during childhood may have weakened lungs for the rest of their lives.

Because of this, it's a good to get in the habit of checking the the air pollution levels in your city, which can change significantly from day to day. Then, do your best to plan your children's outdoor activities during days when the outdoor air quality is good.

Keep in mind that things like the weather, temperature, and the even time of day can influence both the amount and the types of pollutants in the air. If you keep your children indoors on days when air quality is poor, you can minimize their exposure to the dangers of heavy pollution.

While this might seem inconvenient, limiting how much time your child spends outside breathing polluted air can make a difference in their respiratory health. In most places, you can still ensure plenty of outside playtime on low-pollution days.

However, in some cities, air pollution is so persistent and heavy that it's impossible to avoid. If you live in an area like this, you may have fewer options for protecting your children's lungs.

In some cases, the best option is to move away from the pollution to a city with cleaner air. However, moving your family somewhere new is not a cheap or easy task, and it's simply not a realistic option for many.

But even if you can't get away from polluted outdoor air, what you can do is put extra effort into protecting your children from the respiratory hazards that you do have the power to control (e.g. smoke and chemical fumes). You should also watch your children closely for persistent respiratory symptoms that could indicate a developing problem with their lungs.

Protect Your Child from Respiratory Illnesses

As we've mentioned a couple times already, serious respiratory infections can significantly increase your child's risk for asthma and COPD. That's one reason why it's important to take precaution to prevent your child from getting sick.

Most common respiratory illnesses are minor, but young children have a higher risk of developing complications. If the illness becomes serious, it has the potential to cause permanent lung damage that will follow them through the rest of their lives.

The best way to prevent the spread of illnesses is to practice proper hygiene and teach your kids to look after their own hygiene, too. You should also take care to keep your children away from other children or adults who are sick.

If your child does get sick a with respiratory illness, you should keep a close eye on their symptoms until they get better. Over time, even a simple cold or flu can turn in to a more serious infection like bronchitis or pneumonia.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to tell the signs of a respiratory infection apart from a less serious illness like a cold, so don't hesitate to call the doctor if you are worried about your child's symptoms. You should also take them to the doctor if their symptoms become severe or if they don't start to get better after being sick for several days.

Here are some of the most common symptoms of pneumonia in children to look out for:

• Rapid breathing
• Difficulty breathing
• Exerting extra effort to breathe
• A grunting or wheezing sound with breathing
• Shaking or chills
• Pain in the chest and/or abdomen
• Vomiting
• Fatigue or reduced energy
• Loss of appetite
• Bluish or gray skin color in the lips or fingernails (this is a sign of a medical emergency)

If you notice any of the above symptoms or otherwise suspect your child might have pneumonia, you should take them to the doctor right away. You should also make sure your child is up to date with all their vaccinations, but especially those that protect against respiratory illnesses like whooping cough, pneumonia, and influenza.

You should be extra cautious with children under the age of five, whose lungs are the most sensitive to to the damaging effects of infection. After all, pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death in young children, especially children under the age of two.

How to Create a Lung-Healthy Environment at Home

Believe it or not, the place where your children are most likely to be exposed to hazardous respiratory irritants is inside their own home. There are two main reasons for this: First, children tend to spend a large quantity of their time indoors, and the majority of that time is spent at home.

Second, many homes have poor indoor air quality due to unhealthy levels of airborne particles and fumes. In fact, research shows that a large percentage of houses have air quality that's poor enough to cause noticeable respiratory effects, especially in children with asthma.

Because of this, one of the best ways to protect your child's lungs is to minimize the amount of respiratory hazards they are exposed to at home. There are many simple ways to this, including removing sources of airborne irritants and making adjustments to household habits (e.g. cooking and cleaning).

Keep Your Home Smoke Free

Tobacco smoke, and smoke in general, is one of the most dangerous respiratory hazards you can have in your home. Even long after the source of smoke is gone, dangerous gases and airborne particles can persist for days or even months indoors.

As a result, no amount of indoor smoking is ever considered safe, especially in a house with children. Even if you only smoke in the house when your kids are not around, the air will still be contaminated when they return.

Because of this, making your house 100% smoke free is a vital part of creating a safe and clean environment for your kids. That means prohibiting any kind of smoking inside your house, and also outside the house near any open windows and entrances that could allow the smoke to drift indoors.

Other sources of smoke, like

If you or someone you love has COPD, then you might have heard about a treatment known as pulmonary rehabilitation. This treatment is essentially a breathing and exercise training program specifically designed for people with COPD and other respiratory problems that make it difficult to breathe.

Traditional pulmonary rehabilitation programs come in a lot of different forms, including group classes and one-on-one instruction. You can also do pulmonary rehabilitation by yourself at home, an option that many patients choose instead of—or in addition to—taking a traditional class.

This is a great option for anyone who needs the flexibility, convenience, and easy accessibility that you get from practicing pulmonary rehabilitation at home. If you live in a rural area or lack the physical ability to take classes outside the home, home pulmonary rehab might be the only option that is realistic for you.

That's why we created this practical guide for practicing pulmonary rehabilitation at home. Whether you are simply interested in learning about the treatment or you're ready to try it out yourself, this guide will give you just about everything you need to get started, including direct links to all kinds of useful expert resources.

We'll start by explaining how both traditional and home pulmonary rehabilitation works, and why it's such an important therapy for people with COPD. Then, we'll explain all the elements you need to set up your own home-based pulmonary rehab program, including how to find the materials and resources you need.

What Pulmonary Rehabilitation Can Do for You

Pulmonary rehabilitation is a versatile, multi-faceted program that teaches practical strategies for managing everyday life with COPD and other serious respiratory conditions. It teaches you how to manage your breathing better, exercise more effectively, and stay active in spite of reduced lung function and uncomfortable respiratory symptoms.

As the Merck Manual puts it: “Pulmonary rehabilitation is the use of exercise, education, and behavioral intervention to improve how well people with chronic lung disease can function in daily life and to enhance their quality of life.”

Research shows that pulmonary rehab is a very effective treatment for COPD, offering a wide range of physical, mental, and educational benefits. Doctors often recommend pulmonary rehabilitation as a way to build physical endurance and learn how to manage the disease more effectively.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is particularly helpful for those who suffer from severe shortness of breath or have trouble keeping their symptoms under control. However, even people with well-controlled COPD symptoms can benefit from learning how to live a healthier life with their disease.

Here are some of the major health benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation for people with COPD:

• Reduced shortness of breath
• Improved exercise tolerance and endurance
• Improved physical strength
• Fewer COPD exacerbations
• Fewer hospitalizations
• Improved mental health
• Improved sense of well-being
• Greater knowledge and ability to manage COPD symptoms
• Greater knowledge and ability to make healthy diet and lifestyle choices

The main feature of pulmonary rehabilitation is a series of exercise training sessions designed to build physical strength and endurance. These sessions teach you exercises for improving respiratory health along with helpful breathing techniques to help you manage shortness of breath.

Pulmonary rehabilitation classes are a great way to begin exercising if you're used to being inactive or you struggle to exercise because of your symptoms. They help you learn to cope with physical exertion, gradually work up to more exercise, and teach you strategies to help you better manage everyday life activities.

This makes pulmonary rehabilitation particularly helpful for those with reduced physical mobility and endurance who want to learn how to exercise more effectively within the constraints of their disease. However, pulmonary rehabilitation offers more than just physical benefits; it also includes education on a variety of topics related to managing COPD.

A huge part of pulmonary rehabilitation is education and training on diet, lifestyle, COPD treatment, and general respiratory health. They include lessons about diet and nutrition, medications, and how to deal with the emotional hardships of living with COPD.

After completing pulmonary rehab, you'll have more of the skills that you need to get around better, do more, and live the best life you can in spite of your disease. These factors alone can do wonders for your mental health and your ability to live a good quality of life.

Whether you have mild COPD or a later stage of the disease, taking a pulmonary rehabilitation class can make a significant difference in your health and everyday life. Even after the course is over, doing pulmonary rehab at home can help you stay active, informed, and motivated about your health.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is helpful for everyone with COPD, but this treatment can be particularly helpful in certain circumstances. You might want to give it extra serious consideration if:

• You have severe COPD symptoms
• You are having trouble adjusting to life with COPD
• You are recovering from a COPD exacerbation or hospitalization
• You live an inactive or sedentary lifestyle
• You are too weak or breathless to exercise on your own
• You struggle with light physical activities like walking and going up stairs
• You want to work toward a specific physical goal (e.g. being able to walk around the grocery store or make it up a full flight of stairs on your own)

However, people with COPD are not the only ones who can benefit from pulmonary rehabilitation. It can treat a variety of different health conditions that affect your ability to breathe, including asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, severe pneumonia, and serious cardiovascular diseases like heart failure (especially coexisting COPD and heart failure).

What is Home Pulmonary Rehabilitation?

Most traditional pulmonary rehabilitation classes are group classes held in hospitals, medical clinics, and pulmonary rehabilitation centers. The class is run by a team of instructors—which often includes specialists like physical trainers and respiratory therapists—who conduct educational lectures, exercise classes, and hands-on skill workshops.

Home pulmonary rehabilitation, on the other hand, packages many of the same types of lessons and training that you'd get from a traditional pulmonary rehabilitation class into a format you can do at home. It's almost like taking an online or self-driven course; you gather the information and materials you need for each main topic, and complete the lessons on your own time.

Unfortunately, you may not be able to get the same kind of expert instruction and interaction that many group classes offer if you practice pulmonary rehabilitation at home. However, you can still get many of the same physical and mental benefits through self-driven lessons and activities.

This requires some planning and self-discipline, but it certainly doesn't mean that you will be completely on your own. You will be able to access to a wide variety of helpful resources and expert advice as you prepare for and work through the program at home.

You can work with your doctor to put together a personalized plan, or you can simply learn from existing guides. Either way, you will likely draw from a variety of different educational tools and materials as you go through your home pulmonary rehab program.

In the following sections, we'll introduce you to many resources you can use, including instructional videos, educational guides, and tele-health support. First, though, let's take a look at some of the benefits of doing pulmonary rehab at home, as well as some of the major reasons why you might choose to do a home-based program instead of—or in addition to—a traditional pulmonary rehab class.

Why Do Pulmonary Rehabilitation at Home?

Traditional in-person classes are the most studied form of pulmonary rehabilitation, but research suggests that home pulmonary rehabilitation programs may be just as effective, even if you only have minimal resources. Most experts also agree that home-based pulmonary rehabilitation offers many of the same benefits as in-person classes.

But even if traditional classes were the best option, there are many reasons why someone with COPD might choose to do pulmonary rehabilitation at home.

First of all, many people do pulmonary rehabilitation at home after completing a group class; it's a great way to continue practicing important skills and techniques. Second, many people simply don't have access to a traditional in-person class.

Pulmonary rehabilitation classes aren't offered everywhere, and they tend to be particularly sparse in rural areas. Because of this, many patients don't have any nearby pulmonary rehab options, or would have to drive hours to make it to the nearest class.

In areas where you can find a local pulmonary rehab program, there is often a very high demand for only a small number of classes. In fact, one 2019 study found that there were only 831 pulmonary rehabilitation centers in the US, which is far too few to serve the more than 16 million people in the US who have COPD.

The result is that many pulmonary rehabilitation centers have long waiting lists to get into classes. This forces some patients to wait weeks or months before they can begin getting the treatment they need.

Because of this, some people with COPD are better off starting with a home pulmonary rehabilitation program. It allows you to skip the wait and begin treatment right away, and it's certainly better than doing nothing at all.

Additionally, traditional in-person classes simply aren't the best option for every patient. Some people, for example, are too sick to leave their home for multiple weekly classes, while others find it impossible to fit it into their lives or budget.

You also need a doctor's recommendation to attend most traditional pulmonary rehabilitation classes, and sometimes these classes are reserved for highest-priority patients. In those cases, you might not even be eligible for a class unless you have very advanced COPD or serious complications.

For all of these reasons and more, researchers are increasingly recommending home-based pulmonary rehab, especially for patients who have trouble accessing traditional classes.

You might want to consider doing pulmonary rehabilitation at home if:

• You are not eligible to attend a traditional class
• You cannot find a class in your local area
• You are on a waiting list or all local classes are full
• You are unable to afford the cost of attending a traditional pulmonary rehabilitation class
• You are unable to get transportation to and from a local class
• Your physical condition prevents you from attending an in-person class (because of severe COPD symptoms or another health problem)
• You are unable to attend a class because of travel distance, time commitment, or another scheduling issue
• You will be attending an in-person class soon, and want to prepare by practicing ahead of time
• You are anxious about attending a group class and would like to try it out on your own first
• You have already taken a pulmonary rehabilitation class and want to continue building on the skills and benefits by practicing at home

How to Create Your Own Home Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program

In these next sections, we're going explain all the different components that a pulmonary rehabilitation class is made up of and how you can recreate each of these lessons at home. We'll start with a brief overview of the major topics and activities, and then we'll show you how to get the equipment, educational materials, and all the other information you need to begin your own home-based program.

The Basic Components of Pulmonary Rehabilitation

All pulmonary rehabilitation classes are different, but they all have the same basic makeup. Specific lessons and activities vary, but all pulmonary rehab programs aim to teach a similar set of practical, evidence-based skills for managing respiratory diseases.

These are the major components of a pulmonary rehabilitation class:

• Exercise training
• Breathing muscles training
• Nutritional counseling
• Education on proper medication use
• Psychological counseling and support

Your home pulmonary rehab program should address each of these topics, but how you approach them may depend on what kinds of resources you have. Because you may lack the specialized equipment and access to experts that traditional programs have, your home pulmonary rehabilitation programs may benefit from a couple of extra components:

• Working closely with your primary care doctor
• Tele-health support

Now, lets take a closer look at each of these components and how you can re-create them for your pulmonary rehabilitation program at home. For each of these topics, we've included links to a variety of helpful, high-quality resources you can use to get started right away.

Working With Your Doctor

Traditional in-person pulmonary rehabilitation classes are usually staffed with doctors, trainers, and specialists that facilitate each class. Since you won't have access to these experts at home, it is vital to work with your doctor—and any other members of your COPD treatment team—as you plan your home pulmonary rehabilitation program.

Your doctor can help you determine your primary health and lifestyle goals, and help you make a plan to get you there. It's also important to tell your doctor before you make any major changes to your lifestyle or exercise routine; this is not only for safety, but also so you can ask your doctor for advice—for example, on what kinds of exercises are appropriate for your physical condition.

Working with your doctor is also a great way to learn about lesser-known resources that you might not otherwise find. Your doctor might be able to give you helpful guides or pulmonary rehabilitation tools, or even refer you to a telehealth program.

Telehealth Support

It's certainly possible to do pulmonary rehabilitation successfully on your own with the guidance of your primary care doctor. However, it's always good to have some extra guidance and support along the way.

Luckily, modern technology makes it possible to work with doctors and other medical experts remotely without ever leaving your home. These are known as telehealth services, and they allow you to communicate with specialists and trainers from home using phone calls, text messages, and/or online platforms.

Research shows that home pulmonary rehabilitation supported by telehealth can be very effective at reducing hospital re-admissions and may work just as well as in-person, institution-based pulmonary rehabilitation programs. Unfortunately, it can be somewhat tricky to find a telehealth service that is both available in your area and suited to your needs.

The best place to start looking is local hospitals and pulmonary rehab centers, which sometimes offer their own telehealth programs and services. You can also ask your doctor to help you locate any other telehealth resources in your area.

Exercise Training

Exercise training is one of the largest and most important components of an effective pulmonary rehabilitation program. It helps you build strength and endurance by teaching you movements and techniques that are specifically tailored for people with respiratory diseases.

To get the best results, your home exercise training program should be as comprehensive as possible, including both cardiovascular and strength training components. You should do exercises that target all the major muscle groups in your body, including your arms, shoulders, back, legs, abdomen, and chest.

Arm exercises, leg exercises, and walking are cornerstones of most COPD exercise programs, because they work the muscles you need the most to function in everyday life. Start small and work your way up gradually, slowly adding more steps and repetitions to your routine as you go.

Even though you won't have an in-person trainer while exercising at home, you can get a similar experience from following exercise videos and DVDs. You can choose from a variety of high-quality instructional videos for exercising with COPD, some of which are specifically tailored for pulmonary rehabilitation.

In general, it is safe to exercise with COPD as long as your doctor says it is okay. However, you should still take care not to overexert yourself and to take breaks to catch your breath when needed.

If you experience any of the following symptoms when exercising, you should stop and rest:

• Severe shortness of breath that is worse than usual
• Excessive fatigue
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Nausea
• Pain in the chest, neck, or arm
• Irregular heartbeat or palpitations

Here are some tips for including exercise training in your home pulmonary rehab program:

• Find instructional videos (and other materials) for exercise techniques suited to your skill level, including videos made for pulmonary rehabilitation.
• Practice doing the exercises yourself step by step, modifying them to your ability if needed (e.g. try a lower-impact version of an exercise, or find exercises you can do while seated in a chair).
• Take regular walks to improve your endurance, trying to make it a little bit farther every day.
• Practice aerobic and strength training exercises in 15-30 minute long sessions; ideally, you should exercise 4-5 days per week
• Do not exercise if you are sick or experiencing a COPD symptom flare-up (ask your doctor if you are not sure)

Resources and Guides for Exercising with COPD

Exercise Training Videos for Pulmonary Rehabilitation

• Exercise and COPD Guide (PDF Download Link) from the Lung Association (Canada): This 16-page manual includes instructions for performing specific exercises and guides you through the process of starting a COPD exercise program.
• The Toronto Western Hospital Pulmonary Rehabilitation Home Exercise DVD (You can watch this instructional video on YouTube)
• Pulmonary Rehab Exercise Video from NHS Forth Valley
• Upper Body Exercises for COPD Treatment and Rehab from Burke Rehabilitation
• Arm Exercises for Pulmonary Rehab from Burke Rehabilitation

Text Resources for Exercising with COPD:

• Tips for Exercising at Home (for Pulmonary Rehabilitation) from Wexner Medical Center
• COPD Exercise and Activity Guide from the Cleveland Clinic
• Integrating an Exercise Program Into Your Life (PDF Link) from Living Well with COPD

Exercise Guides from Our Respiratory Resource Center:

• How to Exercise at Home with COPD
• Tips and Tricks for Exercising on Oxygen Therapy
• What Exercise Tests Can Tell You About Your COPD

Breathing Muscles Training

Another major component of pulmonary rehabilitation is strengthening and training the muscles in your chest that help you breathe. This is known as inspiratory muscle training, and research shows that it can both reduce shortness of breath and improve exercise endurance by reducing the amount of effort it takes to breathe.

In pulmonary rehabilitation, inspiratory muscle training is done through a combination of exercises and breathing techniques that target certain muscles in your chest. In order for these exercises to be effective, you'll need to practice them regularly and use proper technique.

{{cta('fa8abc2a-1e88-4fa3-82fd-1cb5b9ed43b2','justifycenter')}}

Just like with exercise training, video lessons can be an effective substitute for in-person ins

It's easy to want to quit smoking, but taking action on that desire is much more difficult to do. Luckily, experts have come up with a wealth of tips, guidelines, and step-by-step instructions you can follow when you're ready to take those first steps.

In this final installment of our three-part quit-smoking guide, we're going to show you how to put all the different pieces—quit-smoking tools, medications, coping strategies, etc.—together into a successful quit-smoking strategy.

Then, we'll show you how to turn that plan into action and finally quit smoking for good. Well also introduce you to a variety of helpful techniques you can use in your day-to-day life to keep yourself focused and committed to staying smoke free.

We'll cover everything from how to plan your quit day and how to make it through quit day without smoking, to how simple strategies like knowing your triggers and practicing self-care can help you stay on track.

By the end, you should have all the information and resources you need to take your goal to stop smoking—and stay quit—from theory to reality.

Strategies for Staying Smoke Free

We talked a lot in parts 1 and 2 of this guide about resources and tools to help you quit, but we haven't talked much about strategies you can use when you're on your own. After all, even if you have outside assistance, it still takes a lot of personal effort and willpower to stop smoking.

In order to succeed, you'll need some solid strategies for managing temptations and keeping yourself on track. Luckily, there are are many proven methods and simple techniques you can use to resist cravings and adjust to living smoke free.

These strategies are recommended by experts and ex-smokers who have used them before to successfully stop smoking. If you learn those same techniques and how to apply them to your life, you'll be more resilient to relapse and better equipped to handle life in general after you quit.

Get Rid Of Smoking Reminders

If you're a regular smoker, there's a good chance you have smoking-related paraphernalia in various places around your home, car, workplace, and other places you frequent. These simple items, which include things like cigarettes, cigarette boxes, matches, lighters, ashtrays, and any other items that remind you of smoking, can trigger strong temptations if you see them after you quit.

That's why you should take the time to get rid of all these things before the day you decide to stop smoking. It will not only help you with cravings, but it will be more difficult to slip up or relapse if you don't have easy access to cigarettes, lighters, and other smoking tools.

You should throw away your cigarettes, get rid of all your ashtrays and lighters, and re-arrange any indoor and outdoor spaces that are arranged to facilitate smoking. You'll be more likely to succeed in quitting if you can go about your day without seeing constant reminders of when you used to smoke.

Take it One Day at a Time

If you think about whether or not you can quit smoking forever, it may feel like an impossible task. But if you think about whether or not you can abstain from smoking today, then that probably feels more achievable.

That's why it's best to focus on one day at a time when you make a major lifestyle change like quitting smoking. Otherwise, you can get overwhelmed and discouraged by the enormity of the task.

It's no secret that quitting smoking is a long, hard journey, but it's made up of small, simple steps, and you only have to take one step at a time. Just like any other big, long-term project, it's much more manageable if you break it down into smaller chunks.

In this case, instead of thinking about the entirety of what “quitting smoking” entails, it's better to think about the individual steps you can take each day to abstain from smoking. Instead of trying to take in the whole picture, focus your efforts on individual tools and techniques you can use to make it through this moment or this day.

Doing that allows you to focus on the small things you can do, instead of worrying about the larger things you think you can't do. If you ground yourself in the here and now, you can put all your energy into building the skills you need to handle the challenges that come in the future.

That's why it's so important to have a quit-smoking plan in place before the day that you quit, one that includes plenty of simple, practical strategies you can use to manage cravings and keep yourself on track. Then, when your quit day comes, following through can be as simple as following the steps already laid out in your plan.

Let the present “you” deal with present day problems and cravings, and leave future worries and cravings for future “you” to deal with. You can't predict or control what will happen in a week or a month or a year from now, but you can take actions each and every day that put you on a path to success.

Whenever you get the desire to smoke a cigarette, remind yourself that all you have to do is make it through one craving at a time. If you feel discouraged or overwhelmed, just focus on not smoking today; you can deal with tomorrow when it comes.

Celebrate the Small Victories

In the same vein as taking it one day at a time, it's important to take the time to acknowledge each bit of progress you make. Every day you don't smoke is a success worth celebrating, and recognizing this can help you stay motivated to abstain another day.

Quitting smoking isn't just a one-and-done thing; it's a journey that requires you to wake up every morning and re-commit to not smoking. There will never be a definite endpoint to celebrate once and for all, which is why you should celebrate each and every day that you manage to stay smoke free.

Whenever you successfully use a strategy to defeat a cigarette craving, take a moment to acknowledge the victory. When you make it through a whole day without smoking, pause to reflect on how far you've come before moving on to face the challenges of another day.

When you acknowledge and track your achievements, even the little ones, it helps you build confidence and fight off discouraging feelings. It will help you trust that the skills and confidence you build through small, incremental steps will carry you on to the next success and your next smoke-free day.

You should even plan out some rewards you can give yourself once you reach certain milestones and goals, such as one day, one week, or two weeks smoke-free. Those rewards can be as simple as watching a favorite movie or getting a favorite meal, or treating yourself to a luxury like a fun purchase or massage.

For example, you could put all or some of the money that you save from not buying tobacco products in a special reward fund for yourself. At the end of the week (or after you reach one of your milestones) you can then use that money to splurge on something for yourself, such as going out to do something fun or buying something new.

Here are some ideas for fun things you can do to reward yourself for staying smoke free:

• Buy some new supplies for a hobby you enjoy (e.g. a new video game, sporting equipment, cookware, or crafting supplies)
• Pamper yourself by getting a massage, going to a nail parlor, or going to the salon
• Plan a fun night out with your family or friends
• Plan a cookout, movie night, or other celebration with family or friends
• Go shopping for a new outfit or something else you look forward to buying
• Go on a day trip to a place you enjoy

Practice Self-Care

When you rely on cigarettes to feel good every day, quitting can make you feel like you've lost something important. It can be difficult to cope with everyday stressors when you don't have your usual smoking habits to fall back on as a coping mechanism.

After all, many people smoke as a source of comfort and as a way to relieve stress. Because of this, when you quit, you will need to find new, healthier ways to find comfort in your daily life.

One way to do this is by practicing self-care, which essentially just means taking the time to look after your personal needs. However, it's more than an abstract concept; self-care is all about taking specific and deliberate actions for your mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

For example, one way you can practice self-care is by scheduling more “you time” every week. It could also mean taking action in an area of life you want to improve, such as learning to cook, joining a gym, or spending more time with family and friends.

Practicing self-care actions is a wonderful habit to start as soon as you quit, especially since you can use it to fill up the extra time that you used to spend smoking. It's also a great way to reduce anxiety, boost your mood, and distract yourself from the desire to smoke.

In some cases, self-care means saying no, or not doing certain things that affect your mental or physical health in a negative way. For example, you could take steps to eliminate unnecessary stressors from your life, or make the decision to cut specific items from your busy schedule in order to make room for other needs.

As you can see, self-care is a personal thing that requires concentrated effort, careful planning, and honest introspection. However, the reward for all that work is feeling better and living healthier every day.

Your self-care activities should be tailored to you, your lifestyle, and your unique personal needs. In order for them to be effective, you'll need to spend some time thinking about yourself and your routine before you choose for what kinds of self-care activities are right for you.

Think about the things that cause you stress and hinder you the most in everyday life. Then, think of some thinks in your life that you'd like to improve, and come up with some ideas for how to make some positive changes.

Then, take the time to write down some concrete physical, mental, and emotional self-care goals; for example, you could strive to de-clutter your living space, spend more time on hobbies, or think more positive and uplifting thoughts throughout the day. Along with each goal, include a list of at least a couple specific actions you can take toward achieving it.

Here are some general self-care ideas to help you get started.

Self-care for Physical Needs:

• Take a quick walk around the block to stretch your legs and breathe some fresh air.
• Make time in your schedule to prepare healthy, nutritious meals and snacks.
• Stand up and stretch your body throughout the day.
• Spend a few minutes in the sun to relax and soak up some Vitamin D.
• Reduce stress by changing into some soft, comfy clothes that make you feel good.
• Give yourself some extra time to sleep by taking a nap, going to bed early, or scheduling some time to sleep in.
• Take a relaxing shower or bath and lounge around after.
• Free up some time by choosing one task or commitment on your schedule that you can remove, delay, or delegate to someone else.
• Take just one small step toward completing a project, goal, or errand you've been putting off (e.g. cleaning out your fridge or making a healthy lifestyle choice)

Self-care for Mental and Emotional Needs:

• Take some time to journal about your thoughts, worries, or things you are grateful for.
• Spend time outdoors in a green space like a park or hiking trail.
• Make a playlist of some of your favorite songs to relax and enjoy when you need a mood lift.
• Have a “date night” with yourself to do anything you'd like to do, e.g. watch TV, rent a movie, order takeout, read a book, play video games, work on a hobby, etc.
• Allow yourself to feel whatever it is you feel (happy, sad, anxious, angry) without any judgment or reservations.
• Schedule some quiet down time during the day to read, meditate, or just sit around and do nothing.
• Take care of one thing in your home or your life that is bugging you (e.g. a cluttered closet, a disorganized cabinet, or a lightbulb that needs to be replaced).
• Spend some time with friends or family that care about you.
• Place several notes of affirmation and encouragement around your house, car, and workspace.
• Ask someone you trust for some help or support, whether you need some advice, encouragement, or just need someone to listen.
• Make a list of all your worries, fears, and other things that are bothering you to get them out of your head.
• Make a list of some of your good qualities and things that you like about yourself to remind yourself whenever you feel insecure or discouraged.

Try a New Hobby

When you're trying to get rid of a bad habit like smoking, it often helps to replace it with something new. That's why you should consider starting a new hobby or activity on or before your quit day.

Working on a new hobby can help you cope in a variety of ways; it serves as a distraction from nicotine cravings, can act as a form of self-care, and it gives you something to do with your extra time. If you can find a hobby you really enjoy, it can also give you something (in place of smoking) to think about and look forward to every day.

Learning a new skill or activity can also help you feel good about yourself and build confidence in your own abilities. This self-esteem boost can transfer to other areas in your life, making it easier to tackle challenges and cope with discouragement.

Here are some hobby ideas to get you thinking:

• Learn how to knit, crochet, or sew
• Learn how to play a new instrument
• Start a photo scrapbook
• Start writing a journal
• Try an outdoor hobby like gardening or bird-watching
• Start a new exercise hobby like biking or hiking
• Take a class at your local gym or community center (e.g. dancing, cooking scrapbooking, etc.)
• Start reading books or listening to podcasts
• Join a local club (e.g. a sports club or a choir)
• Start cultivating an indoor jungle made up of houseplants
• Find a fun puzzle game you enjoy like picross or sudoku
• There are a million other more obscure hobbies to chose from: e.g. candle-making, origami, terrarium-building, bonsai tree growing, miniature figure painting, and just about anything else you can think of!

Know Your Habits and Triggers

When you smoke every day, the habit tends to get woven into many different areas of your life. You might smoke as part of your morning routine, take smoke breaks during the work day, smoke in your car and during your free time, etc.

Because of this, your brain starts to associate all sorts of actions and habits with smoking. Then, when you stop smoking, those same actions and habits are likely to trigger cigarette cravings.

This is one of the things that makes quitting so difficult to do; no matter what you do or where you go, little things can remind you of past smoking habits and give you the urge to repeat them again. The association can become so strong after smoking for months or years that you can't imagine doing certain things without a smoke.

Certain moods and psychological states can also trigger tobacco cravings and the habitual impulse to smoke. For example, many smokers experience extra strong cigarette cravings when they're angry, anxious, or stressed.

There are three main types of smoking triggers to watch out for:

• Emotional triggers: e.g. anxiety, stress, anger, boredom, loneliness, frustrating situations, etc.
• Habitual triggers: e.g. driving, drinking alcohol, after eating, during breaks at work, etc.
• Social triggers: e.g. social events with friends, being around others who smoke, vacations, going out to a bar, etc.

For your quit smoking plan to be successful, you'll need a way to handle and ride out these triggers without giving in to the cravings. There are two main ways to do this: by replacing habitual smoking sessions with an entirely new habit, and by changing your routine to avoid the triggers altogether.

Replacement Habits

Before you quit, take note of all your smoking habits and all the situations and circumstances you know of that make you want to smoke. Then, think of a simple, easy action you can take whenever you find yourself in one of these triggering situations.

The idea is to replace the habit of smoking with a healthier habit in order to weaken the association you have between the trigger and the desire to smoke. Over time, situations that used to trigger you to smoke should instead trigger the impulse to do the new, healthier action instead.

This is where your list of distracting activities, self-care ideas, and new hobbies can come in handy. In each situation where you used to take the time to smoke, pick out an appropriate activity from one of these these lists that you can do instead.

For example, you could replace the smoke breaks you used to take at work with short breaks to take a walk around the block. Or you could take a few minutes to enjoy watching a short video or enjoy a hot cup of coffee instead.

If you find a good alternative and stick to it long enough, chances are that you'll start to really enjoy the new habit even more than you enjoyed smoking. Instead of simply being a replacement for smoking, it can become a pleasant part of your routine that you look forward to every day.

Changing Your Routine

Sometimes the association between smoking and a certain situation or circumstance is so strong that it's impossible or impractical to try to replace it with something new. In these cases, it's often easier to simply avoid the trigger if you can.

For example, if spending time with other smokers makes you want to smoke, sometimes the easiest solution is just to avoid being around smokers. If a certain activity triggers craving, such as going to the bar with friends, try avoiding that activity and replacing it with a different one that you don't associate with smoking—like going out to a different restaurant or to the movies instead.

Taking yourself out of triggering situations can make it much easier to abstain from smoking, especially in those difficult first weeks and months after you quit. However, that doesn't mean you have to avoid those things forever; after you've had the chance to form some new habits and your cravings have reduced, you might find that you can cope with those triggers much better than you could before.

Stay Focused on the Benefits

If you focus too much on the difficulties of quitting smoking, it might seem like too much effort with too little payoff. However, if you take a closer look at all the good things that can happen when you stop smoking, you'll see that the benefits far outweigh the short-term discomfort of quitting.

That's why it's important to learn about the many different ways that quitting smoking can improve your health. Doing so can help you keep your eye on the prize and remember why you're quitting in the first place.

Any time the going gets tough or you start to feel discouraged, it can help you stay on track to focus on what you have to gain if you persevere. You might even want to keep this list, or another list of quit-smoking benefits, on-hand in case you need a quick reminder of why it's worth it to quit.

Physical Health Benefits

Most people know that quitting smoking is good for your heart and your lungs. However, many smokers don't realize just how huge the health benefits of quitting can be.

When you stop smoking, it not only reduces your risk for lung diseases like cancer and COPD, but also protects you from heart disease, stroke, and other serious health conditions. It allows many parts of your body to heal and improve in a variety of different ways.

Here's a more extensive list of the many health benefits you can get once you quit smoking:

• Reduced cholesterol levels
• Lower blood pressure
• Better blood circulation
• Reduced risk of heart disease
• Reduced risk of stroke
• Reduced risk for COPD
• Reduced risk of lung cancer
• Reduced risk for a variety of other cancers (e.g. cancers of the mouth, esophagus, kidneys, and pancreas)
• Reduced risk of lung infections
• Increased energy levels
• Increased fertility
• Reduced risk of problems during pregnancy
• Reduced risk of blood clots
• Improved ability to control symptoms of lung conditions like asthma and COPD

Mental Health Benefits

Studies show that quitting smoking can improve your mood and mental health in a variety of different ways. Most of these benefits are a direct result of no longer having the drug in your system and no longer experiencing the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.

First of all, it just feels good to no longer be dependent on smoking to get you through the day. Once the nicotine withdrawal wears off, you will also no longer have to deal with the physical and psychological symptoms that smokers must constantly fend off between smokes.

In fact, many studies have found that quitting smoking can impact just about every measure of psychological health in a positive way. This might seem too good to be true, but it's a pattern found over and over, even though the reasons are not completely clear.

This might be surprising, since many smokers mistakenly believe that smoking helps them cope with negative emotions like anxiety and stress. However, the truth is that smoking actually does the opposite, and it only seems to help because it relieves the psychological symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.

Here are some of the mental health benefits you might receive after you stop smoking:

• Improved overall mood
• Reduced anxiety
• Reduced stress
• Reduced depression
• Increased positivity
• Increased psychological quality of life

Long-term Health Benefits

You can gain some of the positive effects of quitting almost immediately after you stop smoking; for example, it only takes 24 hours to significantly improve the health of your heart and circulatory system.

Other benefits, however, come later, within weeks, months, or years after you quit. These long-term benefits won't be apparent at first, but in time they can make a huge difference in your health and quality of life.

In the following lists, we've organized some of the immediate and long-term benefits according to when they tend to appear. This timeline will give you a better ide

COPD is a complicated disease that comes with a variety of extraneous health concerns, including an increased risk for several other serious diseases. One of those diseases is lung cancer, a condition that is quite different from COPD, but still linked to the chronic lung disease in numerous ways.

Research shows people who have COPD are about twice as likely to develop lung cancer than people who don't have COPD. Unfortunately, research suggests that the vast majority of people with COPD have no idea about this increased lung cancer risk.

This lack of awareness is dangerous, because unaware COPD patients may be less likely to take important cancer-prevention measures or watch for lung cancer symptoms. This can result in fewer lung cancer screenings, later lung cancer diagnoses, and fewer efforts among COPD patients to make healthy lifestyle changes that could lower their lung cancer risk.

In this post, we're going to take a closer look at why there's such a strong connection between these two deadly lung diseases, including what factors tie them together and what sets them apart. We'll also discuss what this elevated risk for lung cancer means for people with COPD, explaining what types of lung cancers you might be at risk for and what you can do, specifically, to reduce your future lung cancer risk.

Lung Cancer and COPD: Fundamentally Different Yet Fundamentally Linked

At first, it might seem strange that lung cancer and COPD are linked at all, especially when they are such vastly different types of diseases. After all, COPD is a chronic, lifelong illnesses and cancer is, well... cancer! And we often tend to think about cancer as a unique type of disease in a category all on its own.

But, while it's true that lung cancer and COPD are fundamentally different diseases, they actually have many characteristics in common—aside from the fact that they both affect the lungs. For example, both diseases can cause very similar breathing symptoms and they even share many of the same risk factors and causes.

{{cta('fa8abc2a-1e88-4fa3-82fd-1cb5b9ed43b2','justifycenter')}}

But to understand why having COPD increases your risk for lung cancer, you'll first need some basic knowledge about both of these diseases and how they work. Then, we can take a closer look at some key similarities and differences between lung cancer and COPD that can shed some light on how they're connected.

In the next few sections, we'll explain everything you need to know about lung cancer and COPD to get the most out of this guide, including what causes both diseases, how they develop, and how their progression compares.

Then, we'll jump right into discussing how the diseases are linked before giving you some helpful, science-based tips for how to reduce your risk for lung cancer if you have COPD.

The Basics of Lung Cancer vs COPD

Lung cancer is a deadly disease caused by cancerous cells and tumors growing inside the lungs. It is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the US, killing more people than breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer combined; however, lung cancer can be cured with proper treatment in some cases, especially if you catch it early on.

By contrast, COPD is a chronic, lifelong disease that can be treated, but not cured. It is largely caused by damage and inflammation in the lung tissues and airways that makes it more and more difficult to breathe as the disease progresses.

Lung cancer begins as soon as cancerous cells appear in the lungs, though it can take some time before the cancer is detectable or the first symptoms start to appear. COPD, on the other hand, often doesn't have a clear beginning, as it is the result of chronic lung inflammation that occurs over the course of many years.

Most of the time, COPD is caused by smoking and long-term exposure to respiratory irritants like secondhand smoke and air pollution. Smoking is also the number one cause of lung cancer, though other respiratory irritants and carcinogenic substances (e.g. asbestos and radon gas) can also cause lung cancer, especially if you are exposed to them repeatedly over time.

How Cancerous Mutations Take Over Your Lungs

Cancerous lung cells start as normal lung cells that become cancerous after acquiring certain types of DNA mutations. However, not all cell mutations are cancerous; some mutations are harmless, while others get corrected (or the whole cell gets destroyed) before they cause any problems.

So what is it exactly that makes a cancer cell different—and more dangerous—than a cell with a non-cancerous mutation or a healthy, normal cell? The answer is that cells only become cancerous when they develop several specific types of mutations that cause the cell to stop following certain “rules.”

In particular, cancer cells have mutations that allow them to multiply freely and ignore the usual controls that constrain how and when cells divide. They also have mutations that allow them to escape the body's natural defenses that would otherwise repair or destroy these mutated cells.

These cancerous cells are dangerous because the body can't detect and destroy them on its own; this allows the cancer cells to multiply out of control and spread to places they're never supposed to be. Eventually, these rogue cells begin to interfere with normal biological functions, though their exact effects depend on where the cancer is located and what types of mutations the cancer cells have.

Carcinogens and Lung Cancer

One thing that's important to know about cell mutations is that they can happen essentially by chance. They can happen any time a cell multiplies, or any time a cell's DNA gets copied, duplicated, or repaired.

However, some things—known as carcinogens—can cause a significant increase in DNA mutations. More mutations means a higher risk for cancer, since it creates more opportunities for a cancerous mutation to occur.

Some carcinogens, like UV radiation from sunlight, can mutate DNA directly by striking the DNA molecules or triggering a chemical reaction that damages DNA inside a cell. Other carcinogens, like tobacco smoke, indirectly mutate DNA by causing repeated inflammation and injury that damages DNA both in the cells it touches and in the surrounding tissues that get inflamed.

In general, your risk for cancer gets higher the more frequently you're exposed to cancer hazards. It's kind of like rolling a dice; your chances of developing a cancerous mutation on any given roll is very low, but the more times you roll the dice, the more likely you are to “roll” a cancerous mutation eventually.

Different Diseases, Similar Symptoms

As we explained in the section above, lung cancer happens via a completely different biological mechanism than COPD. However, both diseases directly affect the lungs' ability to function, which means both diseases can cause some of the same respiratory symptoms.

COPD causes breathing symptoms because the damage it does to your lungs and airways restricts airflow to the lungs and reduces how much oxygen they can absorb. Lung cancer causes cancer cells to spread across healthy lung tissue and/or form tumors on the lungs, which interferes with normal functions and makes it more difficult to breathe.

Symptoms of COPD:

• Shortness of breath
• Difficulty breathing
• Chronic cough (especially a wet cough that produces phlegm)
• Wheezing
• Chest tightness
• Fatigue
• Frequent respiratory infections
• Swelling in legs, ankles, or feet
• Unexplained weight loss (in the advanced stages of COPD)
  
  

Symptoms of Lung Cancer:

• Shortness of breath
• Difficulty breathing
• Persistent cough (dry or wet)
• Coughing up blood (or blood-streaked mucus)
• Chest pain
• Wheezing
• Hoarse voice
• Recurring lung infections
• Chronic weakness or fatigue
• Loss of appetite
• Unexplained weight loss

Now, while some of these symptoms seem very similar, they can present themselves very differently in people with lung cancer versus people with COPD. Also, it's important to remember that every case of lung cancer and COPD is different, and symptoms can vary widely between people with the same disease.

One major difference between lung cancer and COPD symptoms is that COPD symptoms are life-long and don't get much better with treatment or time. They often start out very mild in the early stages of COPD and slowly get worse over the course of months and years.

Lung cancer symptoms, on the other hand, can get better with successful treatment and even fully disappear if the cancer is cured. However, symptoms often don't show up until the later stages of cancer, when the cancer is much less treatable and has likely already spread.

People who are diagnosed with early-stage COPD can live with the disease for many years before the symptoms get severe enough to significantly burden their lives. People with moderate to severe lung cancer symptoms are not likely to live long with the disease unless their cancer can be successfully treated or cured.

Certain Types of Lung Cancer are More Strongly Associated with COPD

There are at least a dozen different kinds of lung cancer, but the most common ones fall into one of two main types: small cell lung cancer (SCLC) or non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Non-small cell lung cancers are by far the most common, and they make up about 80-85 percent of all lung cancers.

Compared to non-small cell lung cancers, small-cell lung cancers tend to be more aggressive and progress more quickly. However, every case of lung cancer is different, and how the disease presents and progresses can vary significantly from person to person.

All types of lung cancer are strongly associated with both smoking and COPD. About 85 percent of all lung cancers are caused by smoking, and about 40-70 percent of people with lung cancer also have COPD.

However, some types of lung cancer are more closely tied to smoking and COPD than others. People with COPD seem to be more prone to non-small cell lung cancers and have a particularly high risk for squamous cell carcinoma (a sub-type of NSCLC).

In fact, about half of all people who get non-small cell lung cancer also have COPD, and about 80 percent are current or former smokers. Small-cell lung cancers, by comparison, are almost always associated with smoking; up to 98 percent of of SCLC patients have a history of smoking.

Here is a table describing some of the most common types of lung cancers.

It's important to note that lung cancer doesn't always stay just in the lungs. Over time, lung cancer can become metastatic, which means that the cancer cells can break off and travel to other parts of the body.

This allows the cancer to take root in other organs, most commonly the bones, brain, liver, adrenal gland, and the other lung. When this happens, the resulting cancer is known as a secondary cancer, and it retains the same characteristics as the cancer it originally came from.

Why Do People With COPD Have a Higher Risk for Lung Cancer?

Now that you know the basics of how both lung cancer and COPD work, let's take a closer look at why one disease affects the other and how both of these diseases are so closely intertwined. We'll look at 3 main factors in particular that help explain the link: shared disease risk factors, accumulated lung damage, and individual susceptibility to lung disease.

Shared Risk Factors

One of the main links between COPD and lung cancer is that both diseases have many of the same risk factors and causes. A risk factor is essentially any kind of health problem, physical characteristic, behavior, or lifestyle factor that is known to increase your risk for developing a certain disease.

This means that some of the things that increase your chances of developing COPD—like tobacco smoke and certain respiratory toxins—can also increase your risk of developing lung cancer. In fact, up to 90% of both COPD cases and lung cancer cases are caused by smoking.

This makes sense if you consider the fact that COPD, just like lung cancer, is associated with repeated damage and inflammation in the lungs. Even if you're not a smoker, being diagnosed with COPD means that you are more likely than people who don't have COPD to have other risk factors that increase your chances of getting lung cancer in the future.

Let's take a closer look at the risk factors for both lung cancer and COPD. Though some of the risk factors differ, you should notice that there are a lot that overlap.

Risk Factors for Lung Cancer:

• Older age
• Smoking tobacco (responsible for about 80% of lung cancer deaths)
• Exposure to secondhand smoke (responsible for up to 7 thousand deaths per year)
• Exposure to radon gas (the second most common cause of lung cancer)
• Exposure to asbestos (especially in an occupational environment)
• Exposure to other carcinogens at work (e.g. diesel exhaust fumes, coal compounds, silica dust, arsenic, etc.)
• Exposure to air pollution
• Previous radiation therapy
• Family history of lung cancer

Risk Factors for COPD:

• Older age
• Smoking tobacco (the number one cause of COPD)
• Exposure to secondhand smoke
• Exposure to radon gas
• Exposure to asbestos
• Exposure to other respiratory irritants, including hazardous fumes, chemicals, and airborne particles, especially in an occupational environment (e.g. dust, car exhaust, and fumes from products like cleaning solutions, adhesives, treated lumber, etc.)
• Exposure to air pollution
• A history of frequent or severe respiratory infections (especially during childhood)
• Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (a rare genetic disease)

Lung Damage Caused by COPD

While common risk factors (like genetics) and common causes (like smoking) explain some of the relationship between lung cancer and COPD, there are other factors at play. Research shows that simply having COPD is an independent risk factor for lung cancer on its own.

Researchers also believe that certain types of lung cancer—squamous cell carcinoma, in particular—are the result of COPD-related inflammation in the lungs. After all, chronic inflammation is a well-known cause of cancer as well as an inherent characteristic of COPD

This chronic inflammation causes certain physiological changes to lung tissues, including a decrease in DNA repair proteins and an increase in oxidative stress. These changes—along with the repeated cycles of inflammation, damage, and repair—can lead to cancerous mutations.

Those who work in the US military make great sacrifices in service of their country. Those sacrifices often include putting their lives at risk in a number of ways.

As a result, military service members and veterans have a higher risk of getting a variety of injuries, diseases, and other serious health problems. One disease that's particularly common among military veterans is a chronic lung condition known as COPD.

Veterans are more likely to develop COPD for a variety of different reasons, but a major cause is being exposed to chemicals, smoke, and other lung hazards during service. Fortunately, COPD is becoming more widely acknowledged by the US Department of Veterans Affairs as a major health issue facing US military veterans.

Unfortunately, COPD doesn't receive nearly as much public attention as some other health conditions that disproportionately affect military veterans, such as PTSD. As a result, many veterans are not aware of the COPD or the risk factors they possess that could make them vulnerable to the disease.

That's why, in this article, we're going to explain what every military service member, veteran, and their loved ones, should know about COPD. We'll discuss why veterans are more at risk, how you can get the disease during service, and how to reduce your risk of developing COPD.

We'll also explain what you can do to keep your lungs healthy both during and after military service, and how to recognize the early signs of COPD. That way, you can better protect your lungs from hazardous substances and get early treatment as soon as the first symptoms of the disease appear.

Why Do So Many Military Veterans Develop COPD?

If you are new to the term, you should know that COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and that it is a chronic, life-long respiratory disease that makes it difficult to breathe. There is no known cure for the condition, but it can be managed and even slowed down with the right kind of treatment.

(Click here to learn more about what COPD is, including what each of the four COPD stages looks like and what kinds of treatment options are available.)

The most common cause of COPD is tobacco smoking, but even people who have never smoked a cigarette in their life can still develop the disease. In non-smokers, COPD is often caused by occupational exposure to substances that irritate and damage their lungs.

These harmful substances include things like diesel smoke, chemical fumes, and many types of airborne particles and dust. Unfortunately, military veterans are more likely than most people to have come into contact with these types of substances throughout their lives.

For instance, many people in the military have to work around smoke and chemical fumes during service. Many who are deployed (especially in the Middle East) also face additional respiratory hazards like heavy air pollution and burn pit smoke.

However, exposure to environmental respiratory hazards is not the only reason that veterans are more likely to develop COPD. Significantly more military servicemen and women smoke tobacco compared to the general US population, which no doubt contributes to veterans' high rates of lung diseases, including COPD.

However, it's important to realize that COPD is generally caused by cumulative damage to the lungs after long-term exposure to one or more respiratory irritants. Because of this, a single case of COPD can have more than one cause.

For example, repeated exposure to exhaust fumes during military service can cause lung damage that increases your risk for COPD later in life, even if it doesn't directly cause the disease. COPD also tends to have a delayed onset, which means that your lungs can be damaged badly enough to develop COPD but not show any symptoms for years—or even decades—after the original cause.

Because of this, it is often difficult to pin the blame for the disease on any single factor. In some cases COPD is simply the result of lung damage gradually accumulated over a lifetime of exposure to a variety of different respiratory irritants.

This is particularly important for military service members to understand, because a wide variety of military jobs have the potential to expose you to a higher-than-average amount of respiratory hazards. If you are a current or former service member, learning more about these hazards can help you take better care of your health and better understand your personal risk for COPD.

How Big is the Risk for Veterans?

According to a variety of research studies and observations, veterans face a disproportionately large risk for developing COPD. When compared to those who have never served in the military, studies consistently show higher rates of the disease among veterans.

General statistics show that about 16 million people in the US have been diagnosed COPD, which is about 6.5 percent of the entire population over the age of 18. However, experts believe the true number is much higher because a large number of people who have the disease have not yet been diagnosed.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to find exact statistics on the numbers and rates of COPD among US military veterans as a whole. However, doctors, researchers, and other experts agree that veterans have a notably higher risk of developing COPD and make up a disproportionately large percentage of those needing treatment for the disease.

According to COPD foundation president John W. Walsh, the risk for COPD is nearly three times as high for veterans compared to non-veterans. Research also shows this trend, with one study that reviewed medical data from VA patients finding that more than 8 percent of them had been diagnosed with COPD.

However, other studies estimate the actual prevalence of COPD among veterans to be as high as fifteen to twenty percent, and the disease may be even more common in certain populations of veterans. One study, for instance, recruited 326 veterans from a VA medical center in Cincinnati and found that 33 to 43 percent of them met the clinical criteria for COPD.

How Military Service Can Put You At Risk for COPD

In the next sections, we're going to explain each of the major COPD risks that military service members face in a bit more detail. This will give you a better picture of why veterans are more likely to develop COPD and what you can do to protect yourself from the disease.

Exposure to Dust, Fumes, and Fine Particulates

Many military troops are exposed to hazardous amounts of sand, dust, and other fine particulates when deployed in certain climates. Because of this, veterans who served in the Persian Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other dry, dusty environments have a higher risk for respiratory conditions like COPD.

Air pollution is another hazard that can irritate and damage your lungs, increasing your risk for COPD and other lung diseases. Unfortunately, air pollution is particularly bad in certain parts of the world where the US military is stationed, including Southwest Asia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Burn pits are another dangerous source of smoke that could damage your lungs during service. These pits of burning waste were used often by troops deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq, and they frequently contained hazardous chemicals and materials that release dangerous fumes when burned.

However, exposure to dust and chemical fumes is not limited to military service members deployed in other countries. Many military occupations have the potential to expose you to high enough levels of fine particulates and fumes to increase your risk for COPD.

For example, the US Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes that many military service members may be exposed to toxic vapors when using industrial solvents. These include solutions used for cleaning, stripping paint, de-greasing, and other common tasks military service members perform on a regular basis.

Asbestos is another major respiratory hazard that veterans in certain occupations may encounter. Those working in jobs related to mining, milling, insulation work, demolition, carpentry, and constructions are the most likely to have extensive asbestos exposure, which is known to cause COPD.

Many service members, both deployed and non-deployed, are also at risk of breathing dangerous amounts of fuel and exhaust fumes while they work. These fumes are widely recognized as a major source of occupational exposure to dangerous particulates and gases that can cause a variety of respiratory diseases, including COPD.

Exhaust fume exposure can happen at just about any military job that requires you to work with or near gas and diesel-fueled equipment, including vehicles and machinery. Equipment operators, technicians, engineers, and deployed service members, for instance, may be exposed to harmful fumes from the vehicles and machinery they use to do their jobs.

Increased Pressure to Smoke Tobacco

Without a doubt, smoking tobacco is the number one cause of COPD. Research shows that nearly 90% of people with COPD are current or former smokers, while only 10 percent have never smoked.

Unfortunately, cigarette smoking is an extremely common habit among people serving in the military. This is a problem that's been around since at least the early 1900's, when cigarettes were widely distributed to troops during WWI.

For many decades, cigarettes were an integral part of military culture; soldier care packages weren't considered complete if they didn't include a pack. Up until the mid-1970's, cigarettes were even a part of standard military rations, and in the 1980's, nearly 55 percent of military service members still smoked.

Smoking is such a deeply entrenched tradition in the military that it still persists to this day, despite the fact that aggressive public health efforts have succeeded in reducing smoking rates significantly among the general US population. The most recent research from 2011 shows that nearly 25% of active duty military personnel smoke (compared to 19 percent of civilians), and nearly forty percent of them didn't start smoking until after they enlisted.

The percentage of smokers is even higher among those serving in certain branches of the military. For instance, in 2011, 30.8 percent of service members in the marine corps and nearly 27 percent of those in the army smoked.

Even worse, a large number of people who begin smoking in the military will never actually quit, and many continue to smoke for decades after retiring from service. In fact, the most recent research from the CDC has found that a whopping 29.2 percent of veterans smoke.

That means that veterans have more than twice the smoking rate of the general US population, which has stayed relatively stable at 14 percent for many years. Since tobacco smoke is the number one cause of COPD, the prevalence of smoking among active military personnel and veterans is one of the major reasons for their higher rates of the disease.

Frequent exposure to secondhand smoke can also cause COPD, and it could be another contributing factor to veterans' higher-than-usual risk for the disease. After all, even service members who don't smoke have a high risk of regular second-hand smoke exposure simply from living and working around those who do.

Increased Risk From Deployment

A number of research studies have found that military veterans who have been deployed have higher rates of respiratory illnesses and diseases, including asthma and COPD. This is likely caused, at least partially, by the fact that service members are more likely to be exposed to environmental hazards like dust and smoke during employment.

For instance, one study showed military veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan were nearly three times as likely to have asthma and more than 75% more likely to have COPD. Experts believe that many of these respiratory conditions are the result of breathing in sand, dust, and burn pit fumes while deployed in the Middle East.

Research also suggests that your risk for respiratory problems may be higher the longer you are deployed. However, studies also show that deployed service members are more likely to smoke than those who have not been deployed.

Finally, some military veterans may be at risk for COPD and other respiratory problems due to their proximity to specific hazardous events. These include veterans of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm who may have been exposed to dangerous levels of pollution from oil well fires.

Here is a list of some specific events recognized as respiratory hazards by the US Department of Veterans Affairs:

• The 2003 sulfur plant fire in Al Mishraq, Iraq
• The Atsugi waste incinerator in Atsugi, Japan that released dangerous fumes from burning medical industrial waste
• Exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War
• Oil and gas well fires during the Gulf War (specifically operation desert shield and operation desert storm)
• Burn pits used at military sites
• Environmental exposure to sand, dust, and other particulate matter during deployment

What Can Military Service Members Do to Protect Their Lungs?

It is not uncommon for military service members to have to work in hazardous conditions. This includes working around dust, smoke, and exhaust fumes, as well as handling a variety of hazardous chemicals and materials.

All of these things can pose a risk to your lungs, but there are certain things you can do to significantly reduce that risk. Simply taking the right safety precautions and avoiding tobacco smoke, for example, can protect you from most of the major respiratory hazards you're likely to encounter during service.

Even veterans who are no longer in active service can protect their lungs by quitting smoking and continuing to avoid respiratory hazards throughout their lives. Early detection is also important, which is why it's vital for veterans with respiratory problems to get tested for COPD.

Follow Proper Safety Precautions and Procedures

When you're working in hazardous environments or with hazardous materials, you should do everything you can to protect yourself from both immediate and long-term health risks. In order to do that, you need to wear the proper safety equipment and follow every safety procedure carefully.

For example, you should always check chemical product labels for health warnings and instructions, and seek out other safety information before handling any chemical or material that could be hazardous. You should also know any applicable safety procedures and follow them to the letter every single time you do the task.

It's especially important to utilize all safety equipment that's available and appropriate, such as gloves, goggles, masks, and respirators, before you handle dangerous materials or work near a respiratory hazard. If your work site doesn't have the proper safety supplies, you should alert your supervisor to the problem and request the needed equipment.

However, you must make sure that you use the right kind of safety equipment for the specific hazard you face, otherwise you won't be protected. Many types of masks and respirators are only designed to protect you from a specific type of respiratory hazards, such as a certain size of ultra-fine particle or a type of chemical fume.

For more information on occupational respiratory hazards and what kind of safety equipment to use, refer to the OSHA technical manual on respiratory protection. You can view this on the US Department of Labor's website here.

It's particularly important to be safe with chemicals you use routinely, as repeated exposure is much more likely to damage your lungs than a one-time mistake. The temptation to cut corners and skip safety procedures also tends to be higher the more often you do a task; that's why maintaining your diligence is vital, especially the longer you work.

All of these safety rules also apply to veterans and civilians when working both at home and in the private sector. Always take the proper steps and wear the proper safety gear when you work around anything, including common household chemicals, that could harm your lungs.

Certain chemicals are more hazardous than others, and you should be familiar with all the dangerous materials and solutions you could be exposed to while you work. Be particularly cautious with chemicals and solvents like cleaning products, de-greasers, paint strippers, paint thinners, and other common chemical solutions.

Major respiratory hazards that require safety precautions:

• Asbestos
• Most chemical cleaning products
• Paint fumes
• Paint thinners and strippers
• Other chemical solvents
• Exhaust fumes
• Dust, chemical dusts, and other sources of fine, airborne particles

Specific chemicals deemed hazardous by the US Department of Veterans Affairs:

• Benzene and other aromatic hydrocarbons
• Vinyl chloride
• Perchlorate
• Perfluorooctane sulfonate
• Tetrachloroethylene
• Trichloroethylene

Quit Smoking, or Avoid Starting in the First Place!

Despite all of the respiratory hazards that military service members face, plain old tobacco smoke is still the primary cause of COPD among veterans. Because of this, avoiding or quitting smoking is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself from COPD.

Of course, this is easier said than done; smoking is pervasive among both service members and veterans, and it's extremely difficult to stop once you've started. Former smokers also have a higher risk of relapsing while serving in the military, and the risk is even higher for those that get deployed.

But even though serving in the military can make it especially challenging to avoid smoking and secondhand smoke, it's one of the most important things you can do to safeguard your health. If you are an active service member or veteran who already smokes, it's still never too late to quit!

Even though quitting is difficult, the good news is that you don't have to do it alone. There is a plethora of quit-smoking programs and services available to help you get the support you need to successfully quit.

These include phone hotlines, online support groups, educational guides, mobile support apps, and more. There are even a number of quit-smoking programs in place specifically for current military service members and veterans, some of which are only available through TRICARE and other Department of Defense programs.

Here is a list of some of the available services with links to help you get started:

• TRICARE beneficiaries can receive tobacco cessation medications and personal counseling from approved TRICARE providers.
• Call the CDC's quit smoking hotline to talk to a counselor trained to help smokers quit: 1-800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669)
• Veterans can utilize the Smoke Free Vet website to access a range of services, including: the “Stay Quit Coach” mobile application, online chat with quit smoking specialists, a mobile text message smoking cessation program, tools for creating your own quit-smoking plan, and online support groups for veterans who want to quit smoking.
• TRICARE-eligible beneficiaries can access the Department of Defense's “YouCanQuit2” program: Here you can access a variety of helpful quit-smoking resources online, including personalized advice from support coaches and a live chat system.
• Smoke Free Text Messaging Program: This program offers practical advice, encouragement, and motivation to quit smoking via text messages via a 6-8 week mobile smoking cessation program.
• Tips from Former Smokers Campaign: Learn, get advice, and be inspired by r