November is COPD awareness month, a time to come together and educate people of all backgrounds about the global impact of chronic bronchitis and emphysema. COPD awareness month is marked by an orange ribbon and can be observed in a number of different ways. Despite being the third leading cause of death in the United States, COPD suffers from a severe lack of awareness. According to a Health Union survey, only about 38 percent of patients were aware what COPD was or what its risk factors were before being diagnosed.

Believe it or not, November is also lung cancer awareness month. And while these two diseases share many symptoms, causes, and risk factors, they are not the same disease. To put this into perspective, about 16 million people have COPD in the United States, yet only about 541,000 people have lung cancer in the United States. Generally speaking, more people are aware of the impact of lung cancer and they’re more educated about the symptoms than those of COPD.

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No matter whether you’ve just been diagnosed with COPD, you’ve had COPD for years, or you’ve never been diagnosed with COPD, we’re going to take a look at seven of the best ways to celebrate COPD awareness month. If you have any questions about anything you’ve read here, please feel free to leave a comment or reach out to us.

Participate in Local Events

The novel coronavirus has made 2020 a difficult year for in-person events like concerts, fundraisers, and more. In order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, many of these events have been canceled in order to limit or outright prevent human-to-human contact. But that doesn’t mean that these events have stopped entirely, it just means that people have had to adapt to a new way of doing things. For most people, this has meant relying more on technology than ever before and embracing things like social media and video conferences.

Because COVID-19 specifically targets the respiratory system, it’s more important than ever for COPD patients to be aware of what’s going on in the world of COPD research. According to COPD News Today, although respiratory patients have a high survival rate when contracting COVID-19, they’re still at a much higher risk of experiencing severe symptoms from the virus than the general public. COPD patients are more likely to experience exacerbations such as increased dyspnea, phlegm production in the airways, and chest pain.   

Mentor Youth to Prevent Smoking and Vaping

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking rates have declined from 20.9 percent in 2005 to 15.5 percent in 2016 among adults 18 years of age and older. While this is certainly great news, there are still many battles to be fought when it comes to smoking prevention, especially among people who are most vulnerable such as the youth. According to Heathline, about 8 percent of teens smoke cigarettes and about 21 percent use e-cigarettes or vape pens.

Vaping has often been touted as the “best option” for weaning people off of cigarettes and onto a substance that’s less harmful for your health. However, vaping has been linked to a number of illnesses commonly called E-cigarette or Vaping product use-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI). What’s more, many people argue that vaping can be used as a “gateway drug” leading to the use of cigarettes and marijuana, especially in younger generations.

If you have COPD, you likely agree that any amount of drug use among American youth is too much. This is why COPD awareness month is the perfect time to mentor kids and teens about the dangers of cigarette smoking. If you know what it’s like to live with COPD and you’ve spent time researching and understanding your disease, this puts you in a great position to mentor younger generations and teach them about a disease they may know little or nothing about.

There are many ways to get involved with youth mentoring. First and foremost, you can simply speak with friends or family members and tell them your story of coping with COPD. Another thing you can do is support tobacco-free schools and programs. While most schools do promote a smoke-free lifestyle, the more engagement there is from parents and previous smokers, the easier it will be to create a truly smoke-free generation. In short, smoking trends have decreased significantly over the decades, and it’s mostly due to people like you who want to make a difference in someone’s life. 

Create an Online COPD Group

In this day and age, it’s easier than ever before to stay connected to the outside world. With social media sites like Facebook and online COPD communities like COPD360Social made by the COPD Foundation, you can be connected with thousands of other COPD patients around the world in a matter of minutes. As long as you use discretion when you read something, this can be an incredibly powerful tool for helping you understand your disease and learn about possible treatment options that you may not have heard of otherwise.

If you can’t find the right community for you, however, COPD awareness month may be the perfect time to start your own online COPD community. This is a great idea if you have a close group of friends with COPD who want to stay connected despite the pandemic we’re currently facing. You’ll also have the option of keeping the group closed or open, allowing people all over the world to join in on your conversations about COPD. Keep in mind that your social media group doesn’t have to focus on COPD. You could also discuss things that keep your mind off of your disease and the current state of the world.

Reevaluate Your Short- and Long-Term Goals

Goal planning is extremely important if you live with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or any other type of respiratory impairment. Long-term goals focus on broad accomplishments such as smoking cessation, exercise goals, and diet goals, whereas short-term goals are like baby steps that you will use to achieve your long-term goals. Being faced with a COPD diagnosis often means drastically altering your goals as well as changing your outlook on life. 

Since COPD awareness month comes around once a year, it’s the perfect time to reevaluate your goals and make sure that you’re on track to meet them. COPD plans are oftentimes confusing and multifaceted, so it’s best to assume that you can always make improvements to it. For example, if you’ve already drastically changed your diet think about other ways to benefit from your diet like eating smaller meals throughout the day, creating a meal plan so that you are more consistent with your diet, or contacting your doctor to see if there are any additional changes you can make. Ultimately, you don’t want to feel overwhelmed by your treatment plan, but you also want to always feel like you have something to work towards.

Participate in a Clinical Trial Program

A clinical trial is a research project aimed at determining the safety and efficacy of a particular medicine or medical procedure. Clinical trials are overseen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and they’re divided into four different phases. Phase one clinical trials typically test the safety of a drug or medical procedure and phase two clinical trials are focused on their efficacy. Phase three tests the drug in diverse populations and in different dosages or in combination with other drugs. Last but not least, phase four trials are aimed at monitoring drugs after they’ve already been approved for the market.

There are many reasons to participate in clinical trials this COPD awareness month, but the main reason is that it helps researchers learn more about the lungs and how to treat chronic illnesses like COPD. In order to learn more about COPD and how to treat it, researchers need people of all backgrounds to test their medication. By doing this, they are able to understand who might benefit from it in the future and who should avoid it due to negative side-effects.

Another reason you may want to participate in a clinical trial is because it affords you the opportunity to use COPD medication that is not available to most people. You’ll also be happy to know that most clinical trials are free to participate in and you may even get paid for the time you put into it. Before offering you any type of medication, clinical trial organizations are required to perform a medical examination to ensure there isn’t a high risk of harm, so you can rest assured that clinical trials are safe. To learn more about clinical trials in your area, visit clinicaltrials.gov. 

Take Up a New Hobby

Hobbies are the meaningful tasks that we use to fill our day-to-day life. They’re separate from our life-long goals and aspirations, but they can also be a significant part of who we are and what our purpose is in life. A hobby can be something as simple as doing a crossword puzzle or something more complex and involved like scrapbooking or playing music. Unfortunately, many COPD patients define themselves by their disease rather than by the things that are important to them. This is why COPD awareness month is a great time to pick up a new hobby and discover something that’s important to you.

One of the biggest issues facing the COPD community is anxiety and depression, so it’s best to find a hobby that combats these issues. According to Healthline, one of the best ways to prevent depression is through exercise so if you can find a hobby that gets you up and moving, it’s likely to keep you happy and healthy. Since your COPD treatment plan already requires you to perform pulmonary rehabilitation it might be worth it to find a way to combine your hobbies and your exercise routine. Hobbies like reading or playing games are also great because they keep your mind engaged and prevent your thoughts from wondering.  

Raise Awareness for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency

It’s so easy to get caught up in conversations about smoking and air pollution and forget about the primary genetic cause of COPD: Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (AAT deficiency). Alpha-1 antitrypsin is a type of protein that’s created by the liver. Its job is to protect the lungs from inflammation. When this protein is distributed in low quantities it can make the patient more susceptible to lung damage from smoking, air pollution, and lung infection. Alpha-1 deficiency is known to contribute the pathogenesis of lung disease in people who have never smoked and have lived otherwise healthy lives.

Alpha-1 deficiency is genetic, meaning it’s inherited from the parents and it does not appear in offspring unless both parents have this trait. As a result, alpha-1 deficiency is a fairly rare condition, affecting about 100,000 people in the United States. Alpha-1 deficiency is more common in people of European descent and less common in people of Asian descent. If Alpha-1 deficiency results in the liver retaining this protein, it can also lead to the development of scar tissue in the liver.

While alpha-1 deficiency only causes about 3 percent of COPD cases, it’s still an important risk factor to know about. Many people with alpha-1 deficiency are undiagnosed and resulting lung damage is often misdiagnosed as asthma. So, the more aware the general population is of this rare disease, the more likely it can be treated before doing severe damage to the respiratory system. Read our blog post about alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and share it with a friend if they would benefit from it.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, contrary to its prominence in the United States, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease suffers from severe underrepresentation and lack of awareness among the general population. This is due to several reasons. First and foremost, the majority of people who smoke never contract COPD. Rather, smokers are more likely to contract other illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, all of which can detract from the national conversation about chronic bronchitis and emphysema. 

Another reason there is a lack of awareness around COPD is that it shares the same awareness month as lung cancer. While it’s certainly important for COPD patients to understand their high risk of contracting lung cancer, it’s also important to remember that COPD is a silent disease in many ways since it is often underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Helping people to understand that COPD and lung cancer are two different diseases may help shed more light on the unique problems associated with each.

Ultimately, COPD awareness month is a month that should be observed by everyone, regardless of whether or not you have COPD or you know someone who has COPD. Take some of the aforementioned tips into consideration as you plan for the weeks ahead and be sure to leave a comment below if you have any questions or concerns.   

Most people like to think of the internet as a place they can have all their burning questions answered. Just a quick visit to your favorite search engine and you can have some of the world’s most complex questions answered in a matter of minutes. However, while it is easy to use the internet, it’s still important to be wary about where we’re getting our information and how we use it.

When it comes to oxygen concentrators, there is a lot of misinformation to be found on the internet. Whether it’s confusion about the cost of oxygen concentrators, how they work, or anything else, this information might dissuade someone from purchasing one, and thus experiencing the many benefits that they offer. In many ways, this is understandable considering the fact that oxygen concentrators have a lot more features than other oxygen devices such as oxygen tanks and liquid oxygen tanks.

In this post, we’re going to go through a couple of the most common myths and misconceptions about oxygen concentrators and debunk them. By doing so, we hope to provide you with a more clear understanding of what your options are in terms of supplemental oxygen therapy. If you have any questions at all after reading this article, feel free to reach out to our respiratory specialists.

Myth #1 - They’re Not a Cost-Effective Option

Understandably, cost is a major concern for many oxygen patients. Money can be tight these days especially if you’re having to spend a lot on medication, doctor’s visits, and other healthcare costs. This is why many people are looking for the cheapest option when it comes to supplemental oxygen therapy.

While it’s certainly a good idea to look for the best deal possible on medical oxygen, it’s also important to think in the long term rather than the short term. Buying the cheapest oxygen concentrator might seem like a good idea at the moment, but you may begin to regret your purchase over the course of several weeks or months.

Oxygen concentrators can be deceiving in that they have a higher upfront cost than oxygen tanks or liquid oxygen tanks. But over the course of several years, oxygen tanks rack up a lot of costs that you simply won’t have to deal with if you own an oxygen concentrator. What’s more, oxygen concentrators that are manufactured by reputable brands tend to have a lifespan of anywhere between 5 to 7 years and they’re designed to be run 24 hours a day without being turned off.

Another reason oxygen concentrators are cost-effective is that they come with manufacturer’s warranties. A warranty is a contract that states the oxygen company will repair or replace a unit if it becomes damaged within a certain period of time. Most oxygen companies offer a 3-year warranty free of charge with the purchase of a new oxygen concentrator, but they can often be extended to a 5-year or lifetime warranties for an additional cost. However, for most people, three years is plenty of time to ensure that your oxygen device is working properly.

When you compare oxygen concentrators to other oxygen therapy devices like oxygen tanks and liquid oxygen tanks, the long-term costs are much lower. Oxygen tanks need to be refilled weekly and if you don’t want to drive to the nearest oxygen station, you will need to pay to have them delivered as well. Over time, this can become a hefty expenditure. On the other hand, oxygen concentrators do not need to be refilled and the only thing you’ll need to do is replace the sieve beds which are responsible for filtering out unneeded gases like nitrogen and argon.

Myth #2 - They’re Complicated and Difficult to Understand

The last thing most people want nowadays is another device or gadget to worry about. From smartphones to computers, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the complicated technology that surrounds us every day. This is why many people worry about purchasing an oxygen concentrator. They’re under the impression that it will be difficult to understand just like their phone or computer.

Fortunately, this is not the case! Oxygen concentrators are actually designed to be very easy to operate and many people would argue that they’re even easier to use than an oxygen tank or liquid oxygen tank. For example, one of the most popular portable oxygen concentrators on the market, the Caire FreeStyle Comfort, has just three buttons — one to turn the power on and off, and two to adjust the flow setting. The screen displays the flow setting you currently have selected as well as the amount of battery life you have remaining. Aside from learning how to replace and charge the battery, this is all you need to know in order to start using it. 

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Another thing that makes oxygen concentrators easy to use is that they don’t have to be refilled like oxygen tanks do. Stationary oxygen concentrators like the Respironics EverFlo Q simply need to be plugged into a wall outlet in order to work and portable oxygen concentrators like the Inogen One G5 run off a portable battery. Oxygen tanks are much more difficult to learn because you need to know how to operate the tank as well as the oxygen concentrator that’s used to refill the tank. If you don’t want to hassle with this, you’ll need to have your oxygen delivered which is costly.

Several newer portable oxygen concentrators like the Inogen One G5 and Caire FreeStyle Comfort have technology that enables you to connect to your smartphone and view information pertaining to your oxygen usage. The good news, however, is that these features are entirely optional, so you can just use the basic features of the concentrator without ever connecting it to your phone.

Myth #3 - They’re Dangerous to Use

Safety should be your number one priority when you choose an oxygen machine. After all, the whole point of being on medical oxygen in the first place is to keep you healthy and happy. So there’s no point in adding any unnecessary risks if you don’t have to. Many oxygen patients are surprised to discover that oxygen concentrators are the safest option available to them.

Since oxygen concentrators take surrounding room air and filter out gases like nitrogen and argon, they don’t hold any compressed oxygen. The oxygen simply passes through the device and into the nasal cannula where it is inspired by the oxygen patient. Oxygen tanks and liquid oxygen tanks work differently because they actually hold oxygen within the unit. A normal oxygen tank holds oxygen gas while a liquid oxygen cylinder holds liquid oxygen. While liquid oxygen tanks hold oxygen at much lower pressures, they can still be dangerous to use. 

Chances are when you go to pick up an oxygen tank for the first time, you will be provided with a long list of things that you’re not allowed to do. Here are just a few of the rules you’ll need to follow with an oxygen tank:

• Never smoke near an oxygen tank
• Oxygen tanks should be stored in a well-ventilated and non-confined space to avoid creating a fire hazard
• Use only water-based products rather than oily or petroleum-based products around an oxygen tank
• Never leave oxygen tanks or liquid oxygen tanks in a hot car
• Tanks should be stored so that they don’t move around while in transport
• Liquid oxygen tanks should never be stored on their side
• For more oxygen tank and liquid oxygen tank safety tips, check out this post
• For a list of oxygen concentrator safety tips, check out this post

As you can see, there are many things you need to watch out for when using any type of oxygen tank. And while there are certain things that you should look out for when you’re using an oxygen concentrator, they are nowhere near as dangerous as the alternative. For example, portable oxygen concentrators like the Inogen One G3 use pulse dose oxygen rather than continuous flow oxygen. The primary purpose of this is to conserve battery life, but it also serves a purpose as a safety feature. If you walk away from your oxygen device and leave it on by accident, the flow of oxygen will stop. This is because pulse dose concentrators have an advanced feature that only delivers oxygen when it detects a breath.

Another reason portable oxygen concentrators are so safe is that they are very small and lightweight. Most pulse dose portable oxygen concentrators are light enough to carry on one shoulder without it causing a lot of strain on your arm or back. Since you won’t be pulling it around using a wheeling cart, there’s no chance you’re going to bump into anything or get your nasal cannula caught on something as you’re walking. 

Myth #4 - They’re Loud and Disruptive

One of the biggest benefits of oxygen tanks is that they’re virtually silent. As a result, many oxygen patients are afraid to upgrade to an oxygen concentrator because they fear it will be loud and disruptive to their daily activities. Fortunately, this is not the case! While oxygen concentrators do put out more noise than an oxygen tank, you’re unlikely to find anyone who believes they are “loud” or “disruptive.”

While some older oxygen concentrators — mainly home oxygen concentrators — ring in at around 45 to 50 dBA (decibels), newer pulse dose portable oxygen concentrators like the Inogen One G5 and Caire FreeStyle Comfort are under 40 dBA making them no louder than a whisper or quiet conversation. This is very impressive considering how powerful and reliable these devices are.

All-in-all, while oxygen concentrators do make noise, it’s nowhere near as bad as people expect it to be. You’ll still be able to go to church, a library, or a friend’s house without feeling like you’re a burden to anyone. And if you’re someone who needs to be on oxygen 24/7, your oxygen concentrator won’t cause you to lose any sleep.

Myth #5 - They Don’t Work at High Altitudes

If you’ve lived at sea level your whole life, you might never think about the effect altitude plays on not only your health but your ability to use a medical oxygen device as well. The higher you are in altitude the more you will notice your COPD symptoms starting to get worse. Since the air is thinner the higher you go, it’s harder for your body to get the oxygen it needs. What’s more, if you don’t travel to high altitude very often, there’s a chance you could contract altitude sickness. This is when your body has a difficult time adjusting to this new atmosphere. During this time, it’s more important than ever to have an oxygen device that you can rely on.

Contrary to popular belief, most oxygen concentrators work just fine at high altitudes. The maximum operational elevation of the SeQual Eclipse 5, for example, is 13,123 feet above sea level. Considering the highest city in the country is just 10,151 feet above sea level, you’ll have no problems using this oxygen concentrator. Other oxygen concentrators will have similar maximum operational altitudes, but it’s important to check with your oxygen supplier if you’re planning on traveling to the mountains. Keep in mind that this does not apply to flying. When you’re on a plane the cabin is oxygenated so your oxygen concentrator will have no problems functioning on a plane.

How to Avoid Misinformation About Oxygen Concentrators

While oxygen concentrators offer oxygen patients more options than ever before, this has come with a price. Because oxygen concentrators vary so widely in terms of the features they offer, it has led to confusion about what benefits they actually offer. Above are just a few of the most common misconceptions about oxygen concentrators, but you’re sure to come across more as you do more research. If you want to avoid this, be sure to consult the user manual of the oxygen concentrator you have a question about. Most oxygen manufacturers make their manuals available to the public, not just people who have bought from them. Alternatively, feel free to reach out to our respiratory specialists here at LPT Medical and we can answer any question you may have.

Conclusion

Most people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are prescribed long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT). This is a type of supplemental oxygen therapy that requires patients to be on oxygen for 15 hours a day or more, seven days a week. As a result, it’s important to find an oxygen device that meets your long-term goals, not just your short-term needs.

Since oxygen concentrators have not been around very long in comparison to oxygen tanks, there tends to be a lot of misunderstanding about what they are, how they work, and what benefits they provide. The above are just a few of the common myths we wanted to debunk in order to help you make an informed decision about your health.

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If you don’t want to spend hours researching oxygen devices online, we recommend reaching out to our respiratory specialists here at LPT Medical. Our primary goal is to understand your needs and preferences, then narrow down an oxygen concentrator that’s best for you. We also aim to provide oxygen concentrators for anyone who wants them so we offer many flexible options such as oxygen concentrator rental, used oxygen concentrators, refurbished oxygen concentrators, and brand new oxygen concentrators depending on your budget.

It is that time of the year again, the holidays are upon us. If you are looking into gift ideas for your loved ones already, and you are having trouble deciding on something special for the person in your life with COPD or another respiratory illness, this gift guide is for you!

In the midst of all the confusion and uncertainty in dealing with the global pandemic, time does not stop moving, the holidays are coming. The holiday festivities are limited, and maybe your travel plans have been canceled, but there are still plenty of opportunities to make the end of 2020 special for your loved ones. Giving your special someone a thoughtful gift can make a big difference this year when spending time together may not be an option.

This year has been especially hard for people with chronic illnesses including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Fortunately, people with COPD are not at higher risk of getting the coronavirus however, people with COPD are at higher risk for complications and poorer outcomes if they do catch COVID-19, therefore, these fold have been very isolated and frighten for a long time.

We created this gift guide for people with COPD in 2020 that will give you some ideas into how you can make the holidays feel special, even if you are spending them apart.

Bear in mind, that this year has taken a great toll on small businesses around the world. If your favorite little shop in town hasn’t closed their doors for good, they still might be struggling to stay afloat due to stay-at-home mandates, limiting capacity in-store regulations, and other state mandated restrictions that are put in place to ensure the safety and health of local residents from the Coronavirus.

That being said, many storefront shops have developed an online platform where you can go to order gifts online. So remember that Amazon is not your only option, and some of your favorite local businesses would greatly appreciate your support in these trying times, even if you can’t go into their store to shop in person at the moment!

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While LTP Medical has two locations: oxygen supplies out of Denver, CO and oxygen equipment in Boca, Raton Florida, we only have an one online store at the moment, and as a small family owned businesses we fully support the local companies in our two locations that are dedicated to bringing high-quaility products to their loyal customers. Depending on where you live, we hope you do the same this holiday season!

So let's get into it!

Gift Ideas for Someone with COPD

CT Mask

A CT mask is designed to give people with lung disease, such as asthma and COPD, the ability to breathe warm, moist air outdoors in cold dry weather. Cold weather and breathing in cold air can cause COPD symptoms to become exacerbated because the cold dry air removes moisture from the bronchial passages, creating inflammation which narrows the airways. It is always smart for people with COPD to minimize their exposure to certain irritates that will dramatize their COPD symptoms, this includes cold dry air.

The CT Mask is a perfect solution for this issue, but also keep in mind that it DOES NOT PROTECT AGAINST COVID-19. The Ct Mask is essentially a thermal exchange module, which initiates a heat exchange cycle each time there is an inhalation and exhalation. The heat and moisture from the exhaled breath is held inside the module and transferred into your next inhaled breath. So instead of breathing in cold dry air, warm, moist, fresh air is inhaled.

Portable Oxygen Concentrator

If you have a loved one with COPD or another lung disease that requires them to be on oxygen 24/7, their oxygen device is with them everyday all day. A portable oxygen concentrator is a battery powered medical device that does require a doctor’s prescription when you buy from a licensed distributor. These machines are lightweight and dynamic, and can even be taken on airplanes, unlike oxygen tanks and canisters.

With oxygen tanks, a delivery company comes and refills empty tanks or replaces empty tanks with filled ones. This process happens at least once every two weeks depending on how much oxygen they need. Every time oxygen is delivered it costs money and time. With a portable oxygen concentrator, all you have to do is charge the batteries while you are resting or sleeping, but you will never “run out of oxygen” because the device pulls ambient air from the surrounding area and compresses the gas into pure medical grade oxygen.

If your loved one still used an oxygen tank, but would qualify for a portable oxygen concentrator, there are a lot of benefits they could reap by switching from oxygen tanks to a portable oxygen concentrator. First and foremost, if they like to travel, having portable oxygen concentrators is much more reliable for extended periods of time and not having to re-fill the device is much more efficient for extended stays away from home.

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There are two kinds of portable oxygen concentrators, one is a pulse flow and the other delivers continuous flow. The most popular pulse flow portable oxygen concentrators on the market are the Inogen One G5 and the Carie Freestyle Comfort. These are in high-demand because of the efficiency and lightweight designs. So they aren’t just easy to carry, either with the custom carrying case or in a backpack, they are also powerful and cover most oxygen patients that require a pulse dose and even have some wiggle room should their oxygen prescription increase over time.

If your loved one already has a portable oxygen concentrator, you could get them oxygen device accessories that makes operating, transporting, and breathing even easier. When you order a portable oxygen concentrator from LPT Medical, it also comes with a battery, a custom carrying case, tubing, filters, and the manual. But there are a few add on accessories that would make a great holiday gift!

Air Purifier

Someone with COPD needs to breathe clean air as much as possible, this reduces symptoms and even helps slow down the progression of COPD. So how do you get someone you love clean air in a world filled with wildfires, pollution, dust mites, and some many other irritates?

A high quality air filter is renowned for its ability to remove almost all airborne particles from the air indoors. Having an air filter can relieve allergy symptoms, improve sleep and help improve overall health, for people suffering from COPD an air filter is a wise decision to improve their quality of life not just within their own home, but it will improve their health and wellbeing so they can spend more time outdoors if they chose to.

Lung Health Meter

Keeping track of one’s health is crucial for someone with COPD. Because this disease is chronic and progressive, it is very helpful for doctors and the pulmonary health team to have updated notes on how the disease has progressed since the last time visiting the doctor.

One of the most important tests when measuring respiratory health is the pulmonary function test’s, which can be taken with a forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). A Lung Health Meter can store up to FEV1 240 readings, so tracking pulmonary health over time is easy.

Fingertip Pulse Oximeter

Another way to keep track of respiratory health is with a portable oximeter. This device helps respiratory patients to maintain healthy vitals and good health. They can be used for checking the pulse and blood oxygen saturation levels in a convenient and quick way, allowing users to closely monitor their health at all stages of the day.

Ultra-Breathe Compact Breathing Exerciser

It might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about what a respiratory patient needs- but exercise is necessary to maintain good health and slow the progression of COPD. Regular exercise is crucial to maintaining respiratory health, yet finding a balanced exercise that challenges COPD patients without exhausting them can be difficult.

A compact breathing exerciser boosts respiratory performance and it is a great device for those who suffer from shortness of breath by providing breathing resistance that is easily adjustable for varying lung fitness levels.

Exercise Bike

As we mentioned before, exercising is crucial for anyone who is looking to improve their muscular strength and endurance, and this includes COPD patients who want to better their respiratory health. That being said, for people with COPD, it can be very challenging to exercise.

An exercise bike gives them the opportunity to work out their cardiovascular system from the comfort of their own homes. An exercise bike does not have to be a demanding work out and it is especially gentle on the joints compared to other workouts.

Walking Shoes

.A nice pair of walking shoes is a great gift for a person with COPD because walking is just about the single most important activity a person suffering from chronic lung illnesses can possibly do.

Even if they walk indoors more than outdoors, having a supportive walking shoe with good traction can help them feel motivated and confident to walk safely around their home or neighborhood.

COPD Healthy Cookbook and COPD guide books

There’s no known cure for COPD but there are things you can do to live and breathe better and eating healthy is one. Healthy COPD oriented cookbooks can help someone you love, live better with COPD.

When you can't breathe, nothing else matters, what might help is knowing that about 16 Million Americans suffer from COPD as well, and there are a lot of resources, including books, available with tips and tricks on how to manage this disease.

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Helpful books about COPD can be about how it affects the patient’s breathing, books about the most up-to-date medication and treatment options, self-help books about how to track symptoms and medications. Books that give the reader breathing techniques to improve oxygen intake or strategies for healthy nutrition and gentle exercise. Or, books about what to eat and what to avoid, with lists of key COPD foods. Lastly, books with stories from others who also have COPD can help pass the time spent in quarantine, and remind them that they are not alone in this.

Actionable Holiday Gift Ideas

Actions speak louder than words and kind gestures can make a very lasting impression as a holiday gift, especially something thoughtful.

The gift of reorganization

If your loved one with COPD lives nearby, you could offer to reorganize their home for them. Moving and carrying heavy objects does not come easily for people with COPD, and a lot of time in isolation and quarantine can make things a little messy. This action can make a huge difference in a person’s life who struggles to get around their own home.

You can make sure to clear all of the hallways and walking areas so they can get around their home easily with their oxygen device

If you like the idea of organizing your loved one spaces,, it would be wise to get COVID tested and be sure it comes back negative and to self-quarantine before interacting with your loved one with COPD. You can also take added precautions to wear gloves and a mask while inside their home, and do your best to maintain distance from them. They could even go outside for a walk while you are inside, to ensure there is no contact.

The gift of cleaning

Another idea for your loved one with COPD is too deep clean their home. Dust and dust-mites are greatly irritating for people with COPD and having an allergen free home can hugely benefit a person with COPD.

Having all natural cleaning products with no harsh chemicals is also very important. So if you notice they tend to use bleach and chemical-fill disinfects, you could collect a variety of COPD safe natural cleaning agents. You can use those products to clean their home, and then leave the safe natural products with them, and dispose of the harsh chemical products that they might not even know are harming them.

Examples of COPD safe cleaning products include variations of warm water mixed with:

• Vinegar
• Baking soda
• Lemon
• Dish soap

Subscription to a Home Delivery Meal Service

Our last holiday gift idea for a COPD is a subscription to a home delivery meal service. Cooking can also be harmful and sometimes impossible for COPD patients especially if they have a gas stove.

Eating healthy is also expensive and requires a lot of time spent at the grocery store looking for COPD healthy foods that a lot of patients are not capable of handling on their own especially when they are trying to stay at home as much as possible and maintain social distance. If your loved one with COPD prefers to eat out or get delivery, you can order them a subscription to a meal delivery service that specializes in healthy foods that are easy to make.

Overview

We hope that we have given you some ideas for what you could get your loved one with COPD this year during the holidays. It is a particularly unique holiday season, where our spirt and acts of kindness go a long way in making someone feel less alone, and more connect than ever. 

Look out for another gift guide coming soon that will be specific to our friends and family who use oxygen. 

Headaches are a problem that we all deal with whether we’re young or old; healthy or not. A mild headache can detract from our daily life causing us to feel distracted, unmotivated, or restless. But at their worst, headaches can leave us completely unable to function in our daily lives. Many COPD patients may find themselves somewhere in between. You might get headaches periodically with varying degrees of severity, and experience periods of relief.

If you’ve noticed that you experience more headaches or more severe headaches since contracting COPD, the two conditions are most likely linked. In other words, focusing on treating your underlying COPD symptoms may help you to manage or completely eliminate your headaches as well.

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In the following article, we’ll take a look at some important steps you should take to treat headaches if you have COPD. As usual, if your headaches persist or you believe they may be caused by some other health issue, be sure to schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss the potential cause.

How COPD Causes Headaches

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a group of lung diseases that cause difficulty breathing. It’s called an “obstructive” disease because it makes it more difficult for a patient to expel air from the lungs. Diseases that make it more difficult for patients to inspire air are called “restrictive” because they’re caused by lungs that are unable to expand completely.

Your lungs have two functions: to bring in oxygen-rich air and to remove carbon dioxide-rich air. If one of these functions is out of balance, it can lead to a lot of problems. For example, hypoxia can occur when your blood has low oxygen levels. Over time, this can lead to severe symptoms, because your tissues are being deprived of a basic component that they need to function.

Another problem that can result from a chronic lung disease like COPD is hypercapnia. This is a condition that happens when you retain too much carbon dioxide. Having too much carbon dioxide in the blood can lead to similar symptoms as hypoxia by damaging organs and slowing the rate at which oxygen gets to your body’s tissues.

The most common cause of headaches in COPD patients is a low blood oxygen level due to either hypoxia or hypercapnia. While the brain only makes up about 2 percent of your body’s weight, it receives 15 to 20 percent of the body’s blood supply. As such, you’re likely to experience a headache due to low blood oxygen levels before any other symptom. 

Many COPD patients experience headaches in the morning after waking up and this is likely due to sleeping problems such as sleep apnea which can be exacerbated by a chronic lung condition. When these two conditions occur together simultaneously, it’s called COPD-OSA overlap syndrome. If you have overlap syndrome, your doctor will likely prescribe both supplemental oxygen and CPAP or BiPAP therapy to help you sleep better at night.

Focus on Your COPD Treatment Plan

A COPD treatment plan is a set of steps you take to treat the underlying symptoms of COPD. Most doctors will recommend some combination of supplemental oxygen therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation, an improved diet, and a revised sleep schedule. However, depending on the severity of your COPD and whether or not you have comorbidities may affect how you should be treating your disease.

The reason that you should start with your treatment plan is that it will rule out COPD as the cause of your headaches. If you’re doing everything that you should be doing to manage your respiratory health and you’re still experiencing headaches regularly, it’s safe to say that there is something else causing the issue. On the other hand, if you’re experiencing headaches in the morning, they could be due to a drop in blood oxygen levels at night. In this case, you may need to talk to your doctor about having a sleep test done.

Supplemental Oxygen Therapy

The vast majority of people with COPD are prescribed supplemental oxygen. Some people are only required to use it several hours a day or as needed when blood oxygen levels are low. However, a large number of COPD patients need to use oxygen for 16 hours or more each day. Unfortunately, some people find themselves either falling back on the supplemental oxygen plan their doctor set for them or they are unknowingly using their oxygen device incorrectly.

Oxygen tanks have been the industry standard for oxygen therapy for a long time. But they don’t meet the needs of every oxygen patient because they’re heavy and bulky. As a result, oxygen tank users frequently feel like they aren’t able to get where they need to go without help from a friend or loved one. Carrying around a heavy oxygen tank can also lead to breathlessness, low blood oxygen levels, and thus headaches, so it may be worth it to look for a different oxygen therapy device.

Portable oxygen concentrators offer a much more convenient way to use oxygen. Since they’re both small and lightweight, they help you ensure that your oxygen needs are met wherever you go. POCs are battery-powered, so you’ll never find yourself where you run out of oxygen. Simply plug it into any car or wall outlet and you can continue using it and charging your batteries.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Pulmonary rehabilitation is a fancy way of saying exercise that’s focused on your lung health. Pulmonary rehab is a supervised program meaning you will work with a medical expert who will show you the proper way to exercise if you have impaired lung function. However, once you know how to exercise correctly, you can perform pulmonary rehabilitation in the comfort of your own home.

The reason pulmonary rehab is so important in preventing headaches is that a sedentary lifestyle and poor posture can make you more susceptible to headaches. Consistent moderate exercise is one of the best remedies for headaches because it keeps blood flowing to the brain and the rest of the body. Exercise also helps you improve your posture which is another thing that can affect your body’s circulation.

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Healthy Diet

Your diet plays an immense role in your body’s ability to ward off headaches. According to migrainetrust.org, skipping meals, dieting, eating high-sugar foods, and fasting can all contribute to or cause headaches. What’s more, according to COPD News Today, studies suggest that inflammation caused by COPD can contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes. This condition is known for causing low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and as a result, headaches.

As a COPD patient, your diet should be strictly regulated. First and foremost, you should be eating smaller meals throughout the day rather than one or two big meals. Your body may struggle to digest larger meals, so the more you can spread out your meals, the better. Secondly, you need to be eating the right types of foods. COPD patients need food that is high in fiber, protein, and healthy fats, but low in added sugar and salt, as well as highly processed or fried foods. This will ensure that your lungs remain healthy and strong and you don’t have any bouts of hunger or energy loss that could lead to headaches.

Smoking Cessation

Smoking is likely one of the most common causes of headaches in COPD patients. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 38% of COPD patients are current smokers. While smoking temporarily alleviates stress, anxiety, and headaches, the withdrawals you experience after the fact can be particularly painful. According to WebMD, insomnia, cravings, and headaches due to nicotine withdrawal typically begin 3 to 5 days after you last smoked. If you’re trying to quit smoking but keep falling back on your plans, this could be why you’re experiencing headaches.

Avoid COPD Triggers

A COPD trigger is anything that can cause a flareup in your COPD symptoms. Some common COPD triggers include cigarette smoke, car exhaust, indoor cleaners, dust, pollen, and more. COPD triggers can cause your airways to constrict, increase inflammation in the lungs, and increase the production of mucus, all of which make it more difficult to breathe. Additionally, COPD exacerbations can lead to a high degree of stress and anxiety, all of which can contribute to headaches.

Ideally, you should be conscious of the quality of air that you are breathing throughout the day. When you’re indoors, make sure you are not exposed to dust, mold, or toxic cleaning supplies. And before going outside, be sure to check the air quality index to make sure the air is clean enough for someone with a chronic respiratory illness. Also, be sure to have a plan for dealing with flare-ups and exacerbations.  

Drink Lots of Water

According to the H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry, the heart and brain are composed of 73% water and the lungs are composed of 83 percent water. What this means is that depriving your body of water doesn’t just prevent your brain from getting the water it needs, but it also makes it more difficult for your heart and lungs to bring oxygen-rich blood to your brain. While every tissue in your body needs water, your brain needs it most of all. 

COPD Medications

The medications that you take for COPD can be both the cause of, and the cure for your headaches. Generally speaking, taking medication as it’s prescribed by your doctor will help stabilize your blood oxygen level and mitigate the chance that you will experience an exacerbation or other COPD-related complication. However, some COPD medications have “headaches” listed as a side-effect, so this isn’t something you should rule out.

Fast-acting bronchodilators (also known as rescue inhalers) are an important part of any COPD treatment plan. They include drugs like albuterol, albuterol sulfate, and levalbuterol, and they’re responsible for quickly alleviating COPD symptoms like chest tightness and excess mucus production. However, fast-acting bronchodilators are also known for having a lot of side-effects like headaches, dizziness, and nausea.

Be Careful With Pain-Relief Medications

Unfortunately, most discussions around COPD are focused on alleviating the symptoms of the disease and less on alleviating pain that’s associated with those symptoms. While pain medication can be used safely and effectively in COPD patients, it should not be seen as a cure-all or something that’s used on a daily basis. What’s more, you have to be careful about what pain relievers you’re using and how they will interact with your COPD medications.

Consult Your Doctor

While you can continue to research the potential cause of your headaches, the best way to deal with this problem as quickly as possible is to consult your doctor. While it may seem like a hassle to go to the doctor just to ask about your headaches, there could be a very simple solution to your problem or there may be a more serious underlying problem that your doctor needs to know about. Be sure to write down the following information before you schedule an appointment:

• The frequency and severity of your headaches
• What time of day or night your headaches occur
• The location on your head that you feel the most pain
• What foods you’re eating each day
• How much water you’re consuming daily
• What your sleep schedule is like
• Any additional medication you’re taking (that wasn’t prescribed by your doctor)

Conclusion

Headaches are not an uncommon side-effect of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Likely one of the first symptoms you will experience if your blood oxygen levels are low is a headache. But there’s also a chance that the pain you’re experiencing is completely unrelated to your respiratory condition. 

Start by trying a few of the tips listed above and if they don’t work, be sure to consult your doctor. While there may be a simple solution to your headache problem, they could be a sign of a more serious underlying condition, so it’s best to speak with your doctor sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a new mobile oxygen machine to manage your respiratory condition, feel free to browse our portable oxygen concentrators here at LPT Medical. We offer all of the most popular and reliable units including but not limited to the Caire FreeStyle Comfort and the Inogen One G5. Both of which weigh under 5 pounds and offer outstanding battery life to keep you out and about for longer. Speak with one of our respiratory specialists to learn more.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disease that affects around 16 million people in the United States alone. While there is no “cure” for COPD, the rate that it progresses can be slowed significantly with healthy lifestyle choices and therapy options such as pulmonary rehabilitation, oxygen therapy, and nebulizer therapy. COPD is a debilitating condition meaning it can affect your ability to get around. But despite this, many people with COPD have been able to live active lives.

One activity in particular that many COPD patients may have trouble doing is grocery shopping. Many people enjoy going to the store because it can be therapeutic and it allows them to plan their own meals. However, on the other hand, grocery shopping requires a lot of walking and lifting which can be made more challenging by increased breathlessness, chest pain, and chronic fatigue.

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In this post, we’ll take a look at some actionable tips for making grocery shopping a little bit easier and accommodating of your lung condition. And if you are unable to make it to the grocery store, we’ll provide you with some interesting alternatives that you can try. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to leave them in the comment section below.

Speak With Your Doctor

Before you start planning your trip to the grocery store, it’s very important that you speak with your doctor. While it would be nice if there was one simple dietary plan that every COPD patient could follow, the truth is, no two people have the same nutritional needs. Your doctor will work closely with you to determine what foods you should be eating based on the severity of your COPD, your age, and whether or not you have any comorbidities like diabetes, sleep apnea, or cardiovascular disease.

Diet and respiratory health are inextricably linked. Whenever you eat, the food consumed is used as raw materials in a process called cellular respiration. This is when the oxygen that you take into your lungs is used to break down food and turn it into usable energy for your entire body. If you eat unhealthy foods or you don’t have the proper balance of nutrients, your lungs will not have the energy and strength they need to function properly.

You not only need to know what to eat but how much to eat as well. If you don’t eat enough food and you’re malnourished, you likely won’t have the energy to go about your daily life and do things like grocery shopping or cooking. Many COPD patients are underweight because eating can lead to bloating, chest pain, and fatigue. If this is the case, your doctor may closely manage your diet to ensure you’re getting enough protein and healthy fats in your diet. He/she may also prescribe you medication that helps you cope with bloating and fatigue after eating.

On the other hand, being overweight can also cause a lot of problems in COPD patients. While overweight is far less common in COPD patients, the added weight can lead to obstructed breathing. If you are overweight, your doctor will likely make adjustments to your fitness routine to ensure you’re getting the right amount of exercise. Spreading meals throughout the day and implementing portion control can also help alleviate weight problems. Atrophy (muscle wasting) is a common cause of weight loss in COPD patients, so it’s important to lose weight in a healthy way that burns fat rather than muscle.

Last but certainly not least, you should not hesitate to address any questions or concerns you have about grocery shopping, cooking, and diet with your doctor. If you think you have a “weird” question, chances are, there are many other people out there who have the same question, so it’s best to just speak your mind. One good way to do this is to keep a notepad handy as you go about your day and write down any questions you have as you think of them. Once it comes time to visit your doctor, simply hand him/her the notepad.  

Take Time to Plan Ahead

Going to the grocery store with COPD is all about planning. The more prepared you are, the better you will be able to deal with complications as they arise. Before heading out the door, you might want to create a list of emergency contacts that you can call if you experience a flare-up in your symptoms and need someone to come get you. According to Healthline, the average COPD patient experiences between 0.85 and 1.3 exacerbations a year so it’s best to be prepared no matter where you’re going or what you’re doing.

COPD is an invisible disease in many ways meaning nobody is going to know that you have COPD just by looking at you. This is why it’s important to have a plan rather than relying on strangers in the grocery store if you experience a flare-up. If you’re able to, you might consider reaching out to a friend and schedule days to go to the grocery store together. This could be another person with COPD or a healthy individual, but what matters is that they understand your disease and how to deal with a flare-up or exacerbation.   

Research Nutritional Information and Brands

One thing you should get in the habit of doing is being more careful about the brands you buy and the nutritional labels on the back of each product. Unfortunately, there is a lot of deceptive advertising out there to make you think that you’re eating healthy food when you’re really not. According to Truth in Advertising, 70 percent of consumers make buying decisions while they are in the store making them more susceptible to false advertising.

Remember that stores are specifically designed to get shoppers like you to spend more money. But “spending more money” doesn’t always mean getting healthy and nutritional food. If you’re in the store looking at a wall of different products, don’t just take the first one you see. Take some time to read the nutritional label on each of them and determine which one is best suited for your dietary needs. Also, be sure to write down which ones you choose so that you know for next time.

Find the Right Portable Oxygen Concentrator

Medical oxygen is a core aspect of most COPD treatment plans. Using supplemental oxygen throughout the day as prescribed allows COPD patients to keep their blood oxygen levels stable while preventing breathlessness, chest pain, and coughing. The problem, however, is that oxygen tanks are very bulky and the longer you want to stay out of the house, the heavier your tank will be.

Fortunately, there is a better alternative to oxygen tanks called portable oxygen concentrators. Unlike oxygen tanks which store compressed oxygen, oxygen concentrators are electronic devices that take in ambient air, remove nitrogen, argon, and other gases, then put out medical-grade oxygen. The benefit of this is that you don’t need to buy a large, heavy oxygen tank just to get out of the house, you just need enough batteries to last the duration of your trip.

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One of the most popular portable oxygen concentrators on the market in 2021 is the Caire FreeStyle Comfort. This unit weighs in at only 5 pounds making it one of the lightest portable oxygen concentrators ever produced. But that’s not all that it has going for itself. The FreeStyle Comfort has a maximum oxygen output of 1,050 milliliters per minute (ml/min) of medical grade oxygen (5 pulse flow settings) and offers up to 16 hours of battery life on one charge while using the 16-cell battery.

Another great affordable portable oxygen concentrator is the Inogen One G5. Much like the FreeStyle Comfort, the G5 is lightweight, weighing in at only 4.7 pounds. It also has the highest oxygen output of any pulse dose portable oxygen concentrator with 1,260 ml/min of medical-grade oxygen. Last but not least, it offers up to 13 hours of battery life on one charge using a 16-cell battery.

Needless to say, there are plenty of options available to you in terms of portable oxygen concentrators. Rather than going with the first one you find, you should take the time to speak with a respiratory specialist who will be able to align you with the POC that best meets your wants and needs. Remember that you will need a prescription from your doctor or pulmonologist in order to purchase or rent a medical-oxygen device. 

Bring Your Rescue Inhaler

A rescue inhaler is a small portable device used to administer inhaled medications. Most respiratory patients including people with asthma and COPD are prescribed an inhaler because it provides quick relief during respiratory exacerbations. Fast-acting bronchodilators act quickly to open up the airways, clear mucus, and alleviate breathlessness so it’s important to carry yours with you and keep it handy whenever you go to the grocery store.

Unfortunately, inhalers are notoriously difficult to use. Unlike nebulizers which deliver medication in a constant stream, allowing you to breathe at your own pace, inhalers require you to inhale sharply in order for the medication to reach your lower respiratory system. This can be really challenging for some COPD patients, especially people with more severe lung impairment. One great way to combat this is to use an inhaler spacer. A spacer is a plastic piece that attaches to your inhaler mouthpiece and holds the medication for longer, giving you more time to inhale it. If you’d like more information on using an inhaler more effectively, please read this article. 

Use Mobility Aids

A mobility aid is a device that helps you get around more easily. Devices like walking canes, walkers, manual wheelchairs, and electric scooters can be invaluable tools for anyone with COPD. Many grocery stores have electric scooters at the door to make it more accessible for people with disabilities. These scooters usually have a basket on the front or back so that you can store your groceries, so be sure to take full advantage of these if you see them in your store. 

Choose the Right Time and Day

Choosing the right day and the right time to go to the store can make a world of difference. Going during peak hours will mean spending more time in lines and you might be forced to rush through your grocery shopping. For someone with COPD, this is not ideal because you need to be careful about the products that you’re buying. Additionally, there’s usually added stress and anxiety when you go during the busiest hours.

According to Thrillist, the busiest times at grocery stores are Saturday afternoons between 1 pm and 3 pm and weekdays after 4 pm or 5 pm. The least busy time is Monday mornings and any weekday before noon. Planning your grocery store trip during these times will make your shopping experience much more pleasant and you won’t feel the need to rush through what you’re doing just to get out of someone’s way. 

Learn the Store’s Layout

As you go through the store for the first time, you should take note of where everything is located. You don’t need to write down everything, but you should keep track of what isle number your favorite products are located in. This will make it much easier to plan your shopping list next time you go to the store.

Consider Grocery Delivery Services

Last but certainly not least, you may want to consider either doing grocery pickup or have your groceries delivered to your home. Grocery pickup is where you order your groceries online and then you simply have to drive to the store to pick them up. This will save you a lot of time and you won’t need to worry about walking around the store to find the groceries you need. Simply pull up, load the groceries into your car, and you’re all set.

Another option is grocery delivery. Grocery delivery is usually done by third-party companies like Instacart or Shipt and will provide you with even more convenience than in-store pickup. However, the one downside to having your groceries delivered is that you will have to pay a delivery fee, so this is not a great option if you just need a few things.

Conclusion

Grocery shopping and cooking are two activities that many people love to do. However, if you’re living with COPD or any other type of chronic lung disease, you may find it difficult to find the energy to do these things. What’s more, you might worry about not having enough medical oxygen to last the duration of your trip to the store. Follow the tips above to get you started with grocery shopping in a way that’s safe and accommodating for your respiratory illness.

Here at LPT Medical, we strive to provide as many oxygen patients as possible with high-quality, lightweight, and easy-to-use portable oxygen concentrators. Unlike old outdated oxygen tanks, portable oxygen concentrators enable you to go wherever you please without restriction. With long-lasting lithium-ion batteries, you’ll never have to worry about running out of oxygen while you’re out of the house. And taking a trip to the grocery store will be a breeze with POCs like the Inogen One G5 or Caire FreeStyle Comfort. 

Whether you simply have a question about portable oxygen concentrators or you’re looking for a great deal on a new or used portable oxygen concentrator, don’t wait to reach out to our respiratory specialists here in Denver, Colorado. You can reach us by phone at 1-888-416-3855 or by email at info@lptmedical.com. Alternatively, you can leave a comment below expressing your interest in an oxygen concentrator and we will reach out to you with more information.  

Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) are diseases within your airways and other parts of your lungs. Some of the most common CRDs are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, occupational lung diseases, and pulmonary hypertension. In this particular article we are focusing on COPD, but a lot of the information can be related to other CRDs.

There are a lot of basics your doctor will tell you about COPD once you are diagnosed, but as with anything in life, there are some things that cannot be explained, and instead you learn from experience.

Once you are diagnosis with COPD, there is no straight path you take, there are left turns and right turns obstacles big and small, all of which you will learn to go through. You will learn how to find ways to live with this disease, and we are here to not only help you live with COPD, but live a high quality life with COPD.

You will learn along the way, what COPD triggers are the most harmful to you and how to avoid them, you will learn what foods cause bloating in your body, and how to fit exercise into your daily routine.

While your doctor may suggest healthier habits and give you tips for living a healthier lifestyle, you are the one who has to go home and live with COPD, so you will have to determine how to follow your doctor’s advice in the most effective way possible, and this isn’t always black and white.

We designed this resource guide to help you navigate the reality of living with COPD, if something applies to you take it, if not leave it behind. Everyone is different and COPD affects every individual differently so it is important to listen to your body and mind to get the best possible treatment for your COPD.

COPD is commonly Misdiagnosed

One of the most important things to discuss about COPD, is the diagnosis. First of all, in many cases, people who have COPD are not to be diagnosed until the disease has progressed into a more severe state. More than 16.4 million people have been diagnosed with COPD, but millions more may have the disease without even knowing it.

It is increasingly common to miss the warning signs of COPD early on, as the beginning stages can often be chalked up to “getting older”. Therefore, COPD is often not found until the disease is very advanced, when there is something clearly wrong. This is alarming, and serious action should be taken to prevent it because COPD is a progressive disease, meaning it gets worse over time. If you catch COPD warning signs early, the sooner you can start to treat COPD and slow down the deterioration in your lungs.

Some of the symptoms of COPD are similar to the side effects of “getting older.” If you think you have even mild symptoms of COPD, tell your doctor as soon as possible so they can test you.

Here are some early warning signs to look out for:

• Shortness of breath, especially during physical activities
• Wheezing
• Chest tightness
• A chronic cough that may produce mucus in a clear, white, yellow or greenish color
• Frequent respiratory infections
• Lack of energy
• Unintended weight loss (in later stages)
• Swelling in ankles, feet or legs

You should be considered for diagnosis of COPD if you experience symptoms of a chronic cough, sputum production, dyspnea and a history of exposure to risk factors for the disease.

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To diagnose your condition, your doctor will look into you medical and family history before they look at your signs and symptoms. You should also bring up any exposure you've had to lung irritants — especially if you smoke cigarettes or are exposed to cigarette smoke a lot smoke. 

Be Careful to Avoid COPD Flare Ups

If you have COPD, you are also likely to experience COPD exacerbations, during which your symptoms become worse than the usual day-to-day symptoms. These episodes can be long-lasting and persist for at least several days, and in some cases you may need to seek medical attention.

There are many triggers of COPD exacerbations, and your trigger may be different than someone else's, but here is a list of some common triggers that you can work to avoid:

• Smoking
• Second-hand smoke
• Air pollutants
• Dust
• Dust mites
• Clean products such as bleach
• Indoor allergens like animal dander
• Outdoor allergens like hay and pollen
• Cold dry outdoor air during winter
• Hot moist steam from showers

If you have COPD it is best for you to avoid these triggers listed above. We wrote a resource guide for people who want to create a COPD safe living space inside their home, you can read it by clicking here.

There is No Cure for Chronic Lung Diseases

CRDs including COPD are not curable, however, various forms of treatment are available. Certain treatments such as supplemental oxygen therapy, can improve shortness of breath and help control symptoms and increase the quality of life for people with the disease. 

COPD gets worse over-time, and without the proper treatment, COPD will cause major health issues, and even lead death. 

COPD is Commonly Cause by Smoking and Air Pollutants

In addition to tobacco smoke, you can also develop COPD by inhaling other risk factors including air pollution, occupational chemicals and dusts, and frequent respiratory infections during childhood.

COPD is Diagnosed by Your Doctor with a Series of Tests

Common COPD tests are as follows:

Lung (pulmonary) function tests

These tests measure the amount of air you can inhale and exhale, and whether your lungs deliver enough oxygen to your blood.

Chest X-ray. A chest X-ray

X-rays can show emphysema, one of the causes of COPD. An X-ray can also exposure or rule out other lung problems or heart failure.

CT scan. A CT scan of your lungs can help detect emphysema and help determine if you might benefit from surgery for COPD. CT scans can also be used to screen for lung cancer.

Arterial blood gas analysis

This is a blood test which measures how efficient your lungs are transferring gases. So this test specifically looks at the oxygen in your blood and the removal of carbon dioxide.

Laboratory tests

Lab tests will not be used to diagnose COPD, however they can be used to find the cause of your symptoms, and rule out other respiratory conditions.

Spirometry

This is a test designed to diagnose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), so it measures how deeply you can breathe and how fast air can move into and out of your lungs. Low results from a spirometry test can be consistent with COPD, but also may not be specific to COPD because it can be caused by other lung diseases and poor performance during testing.

Because COPD develops slowly, it can be hard to diagnose COPD accurately, which is why it is frequently diagnosed later in life, mostly in people 40 years or older.

You Can Treat COPD

While there is no cure from COPD, or other CRDs, you can treat your disease and ease the symptoms. With the correct treatment, medications, and healthy habits you can even slow down the progression of your COPD.

Oxygen therapy is one of the COPD treatments that can extend your life expectancy.

Eating healthy foods that do not cause bloating will help you feel less short of breath.

Exercising or walking regularly strengthens your airways and lung muscles, which helps you manage COPD symptoms more effectively.

Medications, like short-acting bronchodilator help open your airways to make breathing easier in emergency situations, and during a COPD exacerbation. Medications can make the recovery process easier.

If you Need Supplemental Oxygen your Doctor will Prescribe it to You

Supplemental oxygen therapy is a life saving treatment for respiratory patients with low blood oxygen levels. You can be administered oxygen through a liquid oxygen tank, compressed oxygen gas canisters, or a portable oxygen concentrator (POC). All of these methods feed oxygen to the user through an oxygen nasal tub or face mask.

The biggest difference between each of these methods is the tanks and canisters have a finite amount of oxygen that must be refilled, whereas a POC takes ambient air from its surrounding and purifies it into medical-grade oxygen. POCs also runs off of batteries so it will have to be re-charged.

Oxygen therapy will be prescribed to you by your doctor after undergoing tests that will measure your current oxygen intake and transfer of gases in your lungs. If you have Hypoxemia, meaning you have low blood oxygen levels, your doctor will prescribe you a flow rate and give you recommendations for an oxygen device.

You will then want to get in contact with an oxygen device distributing company, possibly in your local area. For example you can google search something like, Denver, Colorado oxygen supplies, and LPT Medical will pop up, same goes for Boca Raton, Florida oxygen equipment. This is one way to find portable oxygen concentrators for sale near you, but you can also order POCs from around the nation and they can be shipped to you.

If you are going to be using an oxygen tank, it is essential there is an oxygen delivery company near your home, because they will have to come and replace empty tanks with filled tanks weekly.

LPT Medical is a family owned and operated business, and while we do a lot of local oxygen sales in Denver and Boca Raton, we also work with customers nationwide. If you are in the market for a portable oxygen concentrator, call us at 1-800-946-1201 so we can help find you an oxygen device that fits your needs.

Too Much Oxygen Can be Dangerous

The reason it is crucial to go through a licensed oxygen distributor like LPT Medical, is because we make sure to look at your doctor’s prescription before we recommend an oxygen device to you.

We would recommend devices like the Caire Freestyle Comfort to an oxygen user with a pulse flow rate of 630 - 840 LPM. On the other hand, if you need a continuous flow of oxygen of about 0.5 - 1.0 LPM you would need a device like the Respironics SimplyGo.

If you started to take oxygen more often than your doctor recommended or upped the dosage, you would start to experience something called oxygen toxicity or oxygen poisoning, and this is very dangerous. The first sign of oxygen toxicity, manifests in your Central Nervous System, and you may start to experience things like:

• Visual changes
• Tunnel vision
• Ringing in the ears
• Nausea
• Twitching (especially of the face)
• Behavioral changes (irritability, anxiety, confusion)
• Dizziness

If you continue to use excessive amounts of oxygen, pulmonary toxicity will begin to occur as a result of too much oxygen in your system. After a certain amount of time with too much oxygen saturation tracheobronchitis or inflammation of the upper airways will start to negatively impact your respiratory system.

There will be a decline in your lung function, alveolar damage, and soon acute respiratory distress syndrome will onset. This could all eventually lead to collapse of your alveoli, also known as atelectasis.

The bottomline is that it is very important to follow your oxygen prescription as an oxygen patient. Other folks at risk of oxygen toxicity are deep sea divers. Be sure to ask your pulmonary doctor and respiratory specialist any questions you have, and clearly communicate your confusion.

Your Oxygen Prescription Will Vary Depending on the Severity of you Your Disease

It is possible that you will have to adjust your oxygen levels while you exercise, compared to while you rest. Some people will need to use oxygen 24/7 and others may only need it while they are exerting themselves physically.

All of this will depend on your condition, so you can’t always ask for advice from others who also have COPD or another oxygen user. Their oxygen dosage may be completely different than yours. The best way to get the most out of your oxygen therapy is to understand you and your condition, your oxygen prescription, and how to use your portable oxygen concentrator or oxygen tanks.

Portable Oxygen Concentrator Costs

Our portable oxygen concentrators costs range anywhere from $999 - $3,000 depending on the unit you are interested in. We also offer refurbished units so if you are on a tight budget we are still happy to work with you to get a reliable oxygen device. Be sure to call us to find out of our current specials that we update throughout the year on select devices!

COPD is Also Common in Women

At one time, tobacco was predominantly used by men and so COPD was subsequently much more common in men than women. Nowadays, there are more deaths resulting from COPD in women than in men. There are four reasons why this shift happened.

1. In the late 1960s, a large influx of women started smoking as a result of tobacco and advertising companies heavily targeting women.

2. Also, women are more vulnerable than men to lung damage from cigarette smoke and other pollutants because their lungs are smaller.

3. Estrogen has been noted to also play a role in worsening lung disease.

4. Lastly, because COPD has always been thought of as a “man’s disease” Women are often misdiagnosed. Many doctors do not think to check for COPD in women and miss the proper signs and therefore women go undiagnosed and untreated much more often..

Learn more about all things COPD in women

COPD is a Leading Cause of Death

COPD is the third leading cause of death in the United States, about 140,000 American die from COPD each year.

The total deaths from COPD are projected to increase unless urgent action is taken to reduce the underlying risk factors, especially tobacco use. 

Underlying risk factors of COPD that need to be mitigated to reduce COPD deaths include:

• Exposure to tobacco smoke
• Occupational exposure to dusts and chemicals
• Exposure to fumes from burning fuel
• In some cases genetics

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Overview

If you think you could possibly have COPD, or if you have recently been diagnosed with COPD we hope that you found this guide into the basics and secrets of COPD useful in some way.

If you learned anything about yourself and your condition, please leave a comment below or share with someone that might learn something too!

There is so much more information about COPD that you will learn through the process of living with COPD, and you can find more resources about oxygen therapy and COPD related article by clicking here.