Smoking is one of the main causes of chronic obstructive respiratory disease (COPD), but what does drinking have to do with it? 

COPD is in reference to a group of lung diseases that affects your lungs in certain ways all of which impact your body’s ability to breathe. This includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Airways blockage is the most invasive part of COPD and related respiratory disease. Whether your airways are blocked from excess mucus production or inflammation, this will result in reduced lung function and capacity. It can also damage and inflame your lungs beyond repair. In fact, there is no cure for COPD. 

Studies show that COPD is very common in people who smoke, in fact smoking is the leading cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. That being said, drinking is a factor that complicates the condition.

People who frequently smoke also typically drink. Therefore, understanding the relationship between drinking, smoking, and COPD is slightly confusing.

As always, if you are in the market or interested in learning about your oxygen therapy options you can contact LPT Medical. If  you decide that you are looking for a portable oxygen concentrator, just call 1+(800)-946-1201 to speak with an oxygen specialist! 

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COPD Smoking and Drinking 

So there is a link between people who are dependent on alcohol and tobacco users, but there is less research that suggests there is a connection between alcohol consumption and COPD. 

In the following sections we will look at how smoking and drink can cause and complicate COPD. \

So it is established that there is a relationship between drinking alcohol and smoking. In fact, people with alcohol dependence are three times more likely to be smokers than the average population.

Smoking is a lung irritant, one of the worst and most invasive lung irritants there is. COPD is caused by long-term exposure to lung irritants. Therefore, it makes sense that smoking is the leading cause of COPD.

Other lung irritants like pipes, cigars, and even wildfire smoke and air pollution can also cause COPD. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calculated that 15 million Americans are currently diagnosed with COPD and of those 15 million, almost 40% of those people still smoke. 

Research Explaining COPD and Drinking 

Drinking Alcohol Can Damage Lungs

Heavy alcohol use can cause damage to the lungs in a few different ways

So, there is research that is suggesting heavily drinking alcohol reduces glucose levels. Glucose is important because it helps protect your lungs from damage against smoke. Therefore, the combination of drinking and smoking is very volatile, and harsh on your lungs, nad bodily functions.  

In addition to reducing glucose levels, drinking excess alcohol prevents your lungs from maintaining healthy airways. Drinking prohibits your system from effectively clearing mucus and contaminates from your airways. 

Immune system 

Drinking alcohol can interfere with your immune system. Your immune system is a crucial system that keeps your lungs healthy and able to fight off infections. Infections and COPD are a huge issue that could increase your chance of being hospitalized or experience exacerbated symptoms and irreversible lung damage. Alcohol’s damage to the immune system is so well known that it is a syndrome called alcoholic lung.

Cell damage 

Drinking alcohol can also hurt the surface cells that line the insides of the lungs. Every cell in our body is important for function and protection. Damaging our cells that have functional purposes is going to affect you in a negative way.

The surface cells are there to protect your lungs from inhaling damaging materials you breathe in everyday. Parts of your lungs are lined with hair-like cells called cilia who get rid of things inhaled out of the lungs. The bottom line is that heavy alcohol use harms this whole process.

Alcohol Vapor

Heavy drinking also causes inflammation. Alcohol is actually an irritating chemical, not just a liquid. Because of this, the vapor in alcohol harms your cells in the upper and lower parts of your airway, leaving them inflamed and irritated. 

When people drink alcohol some of it is absorbed in the bloodstream while some of it diffuses out into the lungs into your breath. Hence why you can smell alcohol on the breath!

This is also how breathalyzer tests work. After consuming alcohol, part of it is breathed out in the form of vapor. The vapor form is very harmful, and will cause damage to your airways. This damage is not secluded to your lungs, but it impacts the nasal passages and sinuses too. Inflammation is another issue with breathing alcohol vapor and will make you more susceptible to infections.

Reflexes

Continuing on, alcohol can also harm your lungs by inflicting some of the body’s reflexes. Getting drunk will hurt your gag reflex. The gag reflex’s function is to stop people from inhaling food, drinks, or spit into the lungs. Without the gag reflex, or if you are constantly hurting your gag reflex, it is likely you will inhale food, water, or other irritants into your lungs. 

Bacterial Infections 

Alcohol is known to kill some of the good bacteria that can normally be found in your mouth and throat. Without this bacteria, you will have an increased risk of experiencing a bacterial infection. In addition to that, killing the normal and good bacteria in your mouth and throat allows for bad bacteria to grow there instead causing potential dangerous infections. 

Commonality of Drinking with COPD 

Drinking is very common among people with COPD and chronic health conditions in general. In fact one third of people reportedly drink regularly and just under 10 percent report drinking heavily. 

Even though, studies have shown that being diagnosed with medical conditions and chronic illnesses often sway people from drinking, people with COPD more often do not quit drinking. People with COPD and other respiratory diseases are as likely to quit drinking despite their diagnosis. The reasoning behind this is unclear.

However it does bring up a good point. That people with COPD and similar chronic illness were heavy drinkers before being diagnosed, suggesting drinking could have a connection to the cause of their COPD. 

Other Risks Associated with COPD 

Of course, there are other causes and it is likely that COPD develops for several lifestyle reasons and habits. Some of the other causes of COPD besides smoking include, living in populated areas, breathing in harsh environmental irritants and it can even be genetic in some rarer cases. 

That being said, about 90 percent of COPD patients can conclude their COPD is caused by smoking. 

The smaller population of COPD patient who have never smoke can contribute their disease to:

• Exposure to secondhand smoke 
• Exposure to pollution and other environmental toxins like wildfire smoke   
• Breathing in burning chemicals or fuel 
• Disorders including alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

Overview 

While there is no direct relationship indicating that drinking alcohol is the cause of COPD, there is evidence that drink does impact the respiratory system in certain negative ways. 

We hope this blog sheds light on what drinking can do to the lungs, and how alcohol can impact a person with respiratory disease.  

Oxygen- It's as simple as inhaling and exhaling? Well for people with respiratory disease, not so much.

Oxygen is life, and without a sufficient amount to support life, it could be deadly. People with certain respiratory diseases that restrict airflow struggle everyday just to breathe. Not to mention the other stresses lack of oxygen places on one’s daily life. 

That is why LPT Medical is dedicated to getting oxygen to the people who need it most. If you are looking to buy a supplemental oxygen device your first step is finishing reading this blog to learn about using oxygen as a first time oxygen user. The second step is getting in touch with an experienced oxygen specialist by calling 1+(800)-946-1201. 

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If you are going to be wearing oxygen for the first time, you’ll likely remember the first day that you get your oxygen and supplies. It is normal to feel confused and overwhelmed. 

Also, you’ll probably have a lot of questions. Even if you know about oxygen from spending time in hospitals or nursing homes you'll quickly realize there is a lot more to home oxygen therapy than what meets the eye. 

The best thing you can do for yourself throughout your oxygen journey and your disease management process, is to continue learning more! Read on to learn more about what the oxygen experience can be like! You’ll also notice that oxygen affects everyone’s life differently, and there is no one right answer. 

The more time you spend with your device, the more you will learn about what works for you and your lifestyle. 

Your Oxygen Device Options Overview 

We often write about the oxygen choice you have as an oxygen patient. You can find that information in these blogs listed below: 

Optimizing the Cost and your Lifestyle Based on your Oxygen Device

Is Spending the Extra Cash on a High Quality Supplementary Oxygen Device Really Worth It?

Long Term Oxygen Therapy Devices That Make Life A Breeze 

In these blogs, you will read about portable oxygen concentrators (POCs) and oxygen tanks. 

The option between POCs and other oxygen devices will ultimately be determined by your oxygen intake. Your supplemental oxygen intake will be determined through a few respiratory tests that your doctor will conduct. 

Once you have a flow rate prescribed by your doctor, you will either be able to get a POC, or if your oxygen flow rate is too high, you’ll need an oxygen tank. 

If your flow rate is within the range where a POC will manage your oxygen levels, it is important to subsequently consider your lifestyle and travel plans. A POC will make your life objectively easier than if you opted for an oxygen tank. 

There are several reasons POCs are a better option for many oxygen users. Firstly, they are battery powered. The Arya Portable Oxygen Concentrator battery can last for up to 16 hours! When you charge the device you simply plug it to a AC or DC power unit, and continue using it, as you would a cell phone.

The other big one, you can travel on airplanes with your POC! There is a lot you need to know about traveling with oxygen. You'll find that information in a few sections! For now, we will  continue talking about the oxygen device options you have.

POCs are also notably small in stature and light-weight. Therefore, it is easy to go from place to place! The Caire Freestyle Comfort portable oxygen concentrator only weighs 5 pounds. 

Confidence Going Out in Public with Oxygen

Spending time out of the house for the first time with you oxygen device and tubing can be intimidating. It can also be hard to deal with your loved ones and old friends seeing you with an oxygen device for the first time. 

The best thing to remember in these situations, is that the oxygen is helping you become healthier. With the help of oxygen therapy you can get back some of your independence. In a way, you are helping them help you!

Independence is a great thing oxygen can give you back if you’ve lost that due to your condition. Oxygen therapy will eventually help you maintain more natural energy levels, and your ability to do things for yourself again! 

You can also remember that, although the exact number is unknown, there are an estimated 1.5 million supplemental oxygen users in the U.S. So you are certainly not alone! 

You can join Facebook groups or online forums to discuss with other oxygen patients about their experiences. This can ease the battle of feeling isolated.

Another helpful piece of advice is that you are using oxygen caused by a respiratory disease, and the oxygen is enabling you to do more. You wouldn’t be ashamed to wear glasses to help you see, or a hearing aid to help you hear, or if you have to wear a brace to help you walk. So don't be ashamed of your oxygen device that helps you breathe. 

Sleeping with Oxygen 

You might be questioning if you can sleep with a portable oxygen concentrator. You can, but it will be up to you and your doctor whether or not you need to. There are several notable benefits for using oxygen at night.

Sleeping with oxygen concentrator offers:

• A significant improvement in sleep
• A mood boost, by reducing anxiety and depression caused by insomnia
• More stamina, energy, and alertness during the day, as a result of a healthy sleep
• A significant decrease in the risk of developing health problems triggered by low oxygen levels

Now, even though wearing oxygen to bed has its benefits, it is not as simple as it sounds. You will have an adjustment period where you will need to learn how to wear oxygen while sleeping. 

The biggest thing you do to make sure your oxygen device is working for you at night, is to breathe through your nose. Easier said than done! Most people breathe through their mouth, especially during sleep. 

You should start by talking to your doctor about using an oxygen mask at night. It is typical that if you are using more than 6 liters per minute (lpm) or more of supplemental oxygen you can wear a closed oxygen mask at night or during the day to improve your breathing.

 The use of an oxygen mask requires a prescription from your doctor. You could also try wearing  a vent or OxyMask when using between 1 to 15 lpm — but again it is very important to check with you doctor first.

Here are some tips to help you adjust to wearing oxygen while you sleep:

1. Make a goal of getting 30 minutes of exercise during the day.

Yes, exercising during the day will not only improve sleep quality but also sleep duration at night. As few as ten minutes of aerobic exercise, such as walking, cycling or taking a tai chi class, can dramatically improve your sleep quality. This works best when you are exercising on a regular basis.

2. Avoid carbonated beverages late at night.

So the caffeine level in carbonated drinks is an issue for your sleep, carbonation is not helpful either. Carbonated beverages can produce gas that pushes on the diaphragm, making breathing more difficult. For that reason, it’s a good idea for people with respiratory disease and oxygen users to avoid carbonated beverages before bed. 

3. Establish a bedtime routine.

One of the best ways to get better sleep is to go to bed and wake up around the same time every day. Routine is key! When your body has a sleep cycle to rely on, it is the most natural way to achieve healthy sleep, even if you are sleeping with an oxygen concentrator during the night.

4. Designate your sleeping spot.

Another big aspect of routine is doing similar or exactly the same thing every night before falling asleep. There are several helpful activities that can become routine before bedtime. Also it’s important that you designate your bed – and bedroom – for sleep. So avoid doing other things during the day in your bedroom such as watching TV or reading. 

5. Practice airway clearing techniques for airway clearance before bed.

Clearing your airways of mucus is something you can practice throughout the day to help you sleep better at night. These techniques can help you more naturally maintain oxygen levels throughout the day and night.

Traveling with Oxygen 

Traveling is one of the most challenging obstacles to overcome when you first begin on oxygen. 

Just getting in the car is hard, but getting on an airplane is actually impossible if you are using a gas or liquid tank. 

You will need a portable oxygen concentrator that is FAA approved. These device can be found at LPTMedical.com or call 1+(800)-946-1201. 

First of all, the Air Carrier Access Act does not require airlines to provide medical oxygen to any eligible respiratory patients during flights, so do not expect to be given oxygen on your flight. Very rarely will airlines provide supplemental medical oxygen on flights for their passengers, and if they do this oxygen service typically costs a fee.

There are some things you need to know and tasks you must accomplish before you travel by air with your POC. First of all, be aware that the FAA and the airline you are flying on may have different requirements and you must follow both the FAA and the airline’s regulations.

• The FAA regulations do not require that you tell your air carrier about your POC in advance, however almost every airline will have you notify them that you will be flying with oxygen at least 48 hours before your flight. 

• If you are flying on Southwest and JetBlue, these airlines also also ask you to check in for your flight at least one hour before takeoff if you are traveling with oxygen. 

• There are some instances when your airline will require a physician's statement

• There are some airlines that will require you to demonstrate how you respond to your POC's alarms before you board the aircraft.

Your best option is to get ahold of the airline you are flying with to learn about the regulations they are held to when it comes to passengers with oxygen concentrators on board. 

Overview 

We hope that this blog gives you some insight into what life is like with supplemental oxygen therapy. 

As a first time oxygen user, education is key! Read up on your options, reach out to your doctor and health care team to learn more and more. 

If you buy a POC from LPT Medical, you will work with the most experienced and helpful oxygen specialists who are always around to answer questions about your oxygen device. 

Do you ever wonder what is exactly happening to your body? What do these diagnoses mean for you and life as you know it? 

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If so, you need to read this blog that explains bronchiectasis ​​in depth. Bronchiectasis is a condition where the bronchial tubes of your lungs are permanently damaged, widened, and thickened. This is an important illness that we at LPT Medical take very seriously. When it comes to oxygen therapy and supplemental oxygen devices, we are your go to company that supplies the most effective, quiet, high-tech oxygen machines.

Bronchiectasis causes damage to people’s air passages. Bronchiectasis often  happens as a result of COPD. In these cases, many people will require a portable oxygen concentrator in order to get the right amount of oxygen. 

The damages bronchiectasis causes in the lungs also causes bacteria and mucus to build up and compile in the lungs. This results in frequent infections and blockages of the airways. That being said, in conjunction with oxygen therapy, bronchiectasis patients must also be prepared with a proper treatment plan that can mitigate infections and exacerbated symptoms. 

There is a lot more to this disease than what meets the eye. The sections in this blog will explain bronchiectasis and everything you need to know about what it means for you moving forward.  

COPD and Bronchiectasis Overview

Bronchiectasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are two chronic conditions that involve damage to the lungs and they often happen together. In many cases, people with both of these conditions need pulse flow oxygen or a continuous oxygen device. The ARYA Portable Oxygen Concentrator is an example of a pulse flow device that people can use day or night. The Respironics SimplyGo is a continuous flow device that is very popular. 

If you have other questions about portable oxygen concentrators, call LPT Medical at 1+(800)-946-1201.    

The causes and treatments for each differ slightly. It is common for COPD to cause bronchiectasis.

It is important for you to know the differences and similarities between bronchiectasis and COPD and how each condition is treated.

There’s no cure for bronchiectasis or COPD, but both are treatable. With the proper treatment, you can lessen symptoms and slow the progression of the disease from getting worse. Bronchiectasis is objectively more mild, and with treatment, you can actually live a fairly normal life with less invasive symptoms and treatments than what one would go through with COPD.

With bronchiectasis, flare-ups must be treated quickly to maintain oxygen flow to the rest of your body and prevent further lung damage. 

Because this blog is more focused on bronchiectasis, we are not going to dive deep into the similarities and differences between COPD and bronchiectasis. We did find a very useful Healthline article that explains this comparison more. You can find that by clicking here: Understanding the Similarities and Differences Between Bronchiectasis and COPD. 

The rest of this blog is going to explain the bronchiectasis diagnosis, the symptoms of bronchiectasis, risks associated with developing bronchiectasis, tips for living with bronchiectasis, and lastly the treatment and outlook for people with bronchiectasis. 

Bronchiectasis Diagnosis Process

A chest computed tomography also known commonly as a CT scan is the typical test for diagnosing bronchiectasis. X-rays are less accurate in diagnosing bronchiectasis. 

The CT scan is a painless test. It shows exact copies of your airways and other structures in your chest. A chest CT scan can show the extent and location of lung damage.

It is important during the diagnosis process, for your doctor to work with you to establish the cause of the bronchiectasis based on your history and physical exam findings. There are several causes that can cause or contribute to bronchiectasis.

Bronchiectasis is normally caused by your lungs becoming damaged and airways widening and becoming infected. This is why COPD often results in bronchiectasis. Sometimes, the cause of bronchiectasis is unknown.

You might be wondering— why is it important to know the cause of bronchiectasis? This is so that you and your healthcare team can effectively treat the underlying disorder to prevent the bronchiectasis from getting worse. 

That being said, during your diagnosis process, you’ll want to know the underlying cause. Therefore, after your CT scan confirms you have bronchiectasis, you’ll then undergo laboratory and microbiologic testing and pulmonary function testing.

This evaluation will likely include:

• Complete blood count with differential
• Immunoglobulin levels (IgG, IgM, and IgA)
• Sputum culture to check for bacteria, mycobacteria, and fungi
• If your doctor suspects CF, they’ll order a sweat chloride test or genetic test.

Bronchiectasis Symptoms Explained 

If you think you have bronchiectasis, you can monitor the sign and symptoms by researching what exactly bronchiectasis looks like. However, symptoms of bronchiectasis can take several months or even years to develop. 

Some if the common symptoms include:

• chronic daily cough
• coughing up blood
• atypical sounds or wheezing in your chest with breathing
• shortness of breath
• chest pain
• coughing up large amounts of thick mucus every day
• weight loss
• fatigue
• change in the structure of your fingernails and toenails, known as clubbing
• frequent respiratory infections

If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms daily, you should contact a doctor. You can get a  diagnosis and start treatment immediately to mitigate the progression and severity of the disease.

Risks and Developing Bronchiectasis

The risk of developing bronchiectasis increases as you get older. That being said, younger people can have it. Also, Women are more likely to have it than men, and women's experience with bronchiectasis also tends to be more severe.

Other health conditions that can put you at risk of having bronchiectasis include:

• Atypically functioning immune system
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Autoimmune diseases like HIV
• COPD
• Allergic lung reaction to fungus
• Lung infections, such as whooping cough, pneumonia, or tuberculosis

Tips for Living with Bronchiectasis

Once you have bronchiectasis, there is no cure. This is a disease you will live with you the rest of your life. Therefore, you will need to learn how to live with the symptoms, treatments, and other conditions of the disease. 

The bright side is that you CAN live with this disease. If you treat yourself properly, you can live a relatively normal life as you would without the disease! 

Here are the basic tips you need to follow: 

• Follow your bronchiectasis treatment plan.
• Take your medications as prescribed.
• Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet.
• Drink lots of water and other nonalcoholic beverages.
• Follow a gentle exercise routine.
• Practice good sleep hygiene.
• Get your annual flu shot.
• Get your COVID-19 vaccination and booster.
• Wash your hands. 
• Avoid getting the common cold, flu, COVID and other illnesses.
• Perform breathing exercises and techniques.
• Maintain good posture.
• Relax and incorporate rest periods throughout your day.
• Do your more difficult tasks when your energy levels are highest.

Treatment for People with Bronchiectasis

So as we mentioned above in the first tip for living with bronchiectasis— You have to follow a strict treatment in order to live comfortably with bronchiectasis

Treating your bronchiectasis is important to help you manage the condition and daily life. Your main goal of treatment should be to keep infections manageable. So how do you do this?

Your treatment options for bronchiectasis include:

• Chest physiotherapy. Chest physiotherapy helps clear your lungs of mucus. This is a compression vest that gently pushes and releases your chest, creating the same effect as a cough. The purpose is to clear mucus from the walls of your bronchial tubes.

• Surgery. If there’s bleeding in your lung, or if the bronchiectasis is only in one part of your lung, you may need surgery to remove the affected area.

• Draining secretions. Another part of daily treatment involves draining the bronchial secretions, aided by gravity. A respiratory therapist can teach you techniques to aid in coughing up the excess mucus

• Treating underlying conditions. If conditions like immune disorders or COPD are causing your bronchiectasis, you will treat those conditions in order to mitigate bronchiectasis symptoms. Common treatments for COPD include oxygen therapy and pulmonary rehabilitation.  

• Lifestyle changes. Things like exercise, eating a healthy diet, and drinking plenty of water may help improve the symptoms of bronchiectasis.

Outlook for People with Bronchiectasis

The outlook for people with bronchiectasis is dependent on the severity of the condition, how you treat the condition, and most importantly what is causing it.

Bronchiectasis affects 350,000 to 500,000 people in the U.S. Individuals with the non‐cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis overall have a positive outlook with treatment. That being said, severe bronchiectasis can be fatal.

Non‐cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis is a chronic lung condition in which the breathing tubes in the lungs, also known as airways or bronchi, become abnormally dilated and thickened over time. While there are many causes of bronchiectasis, damage to the airway by lung infection is the most common. These damaged airways can no longer effectively clear mucus and bacteria from the lungs.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetically inherited disorder that causes severe damage to the lungs, digestive system and other organs in the body. Cystic fibrosis affects approximately 30,000 children and adults in the United States and approximately 80,000 individuals worldwide.

Overview

One of the biggest and most important things when it comes to bronchiectasis is early diagnosis. 

The earlier and faster you can begin treatment, the better it will be for managing the lung damage you already have and preventing it from getting worse.

Beyond early diagnosis, we hope that this article sheds light on bronchiectasis and how the disease will affect you and your daily life! 

Please leave a comment or question if you enjoyed reading this blog, and share the link with friends, family, and followers to help others learn more about bronchiectasis. 

COPD is a disease that affects your respiratory system. That being said, what you eat and how your stomach feels can greatly impact the way you breathe. Whether that's good or bad, is up to you! 

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If you suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), you might find that eating specific foods and following certain diets can help manage your condition. You also might realize eating certains foods makes me feel worse, and can make your symptoms worse.

It is important that you eat food. COPD patients often lose a lot of weight throughout their diagnosis.

This article describes how diet affects COPD. We outline the best diet for COPD patients. And we include foods you should eat and foods you should avoid. We also provide an example meal plan you can follow, along with tips for cooking and eating. 

How Diet Can Affect COPD 

While COPD is a lung condition that limits your airflow making it hard to breathe, incorporating a  healthy diet into your daily life can actually help you manage adverse health effects of COPD. 

Research shows that a healthy and well-balanced diet can have the following beneficial health effects in people with COPD:

• reduces inflammation in your airways
• maintains and improves muscle strength in your body and lungs
• improves lung function in general
• Lowers metabolic and heart disease risk

The process of changing food to fuel in the body is called metabolism. Therefore, oxygen and food are the essentials materials metabolism. The energy and carbon dioxide created after eating and breathing are the finished products. 

The right mix of nutrients in your diet can help you breathe easier.

Best Diet For COPD Patients

Your body is uniquely YOU! Therefore, there is not one single diet that all COPD patients must follow. Instead, you need to eat food that gives you fuel and energy, the food  you eat should not make you feel bloated or full, and it should be a relatively healthy source of vitamins and minerals. 

A healthy diet is essentially just the right mix of nutrients and a lot of variety. As a COPD patient you can cater your diet to help you breathe easier. Diet is a crucial aspect you need to discuss with your healthcare team. Together, you can comprise a meal plan, just for you. 

It might be helpful to meet with a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN). Their knowledge and expertise will help you get on track. You can also find an RDN who specializes in COPD by visiting the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics or simply discuss this topic with your doctor.

Foods you Should Eat 

While there is no strict diet COPD patients need to be on, there are general rules as to what foods will make you feel energized, light, and well-balanced 

As a COPD patient you need food that are high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, protein, and Mono and polyunsaturated fats.

If you are like most people, all of those words don't mean much to you. And reading the small labels on foods is time-consuming and let's face it TOO SMALL TO READ! 

Here is a what you need to know about foods you should eat:

Complex Carbohydrates 

Complex carbohydrates contain long chains of sugar molecules. This is all scientific jargon, but it essentially means that complex carbohydrates are a great source of energy.

Here are some foods that contain complex carbohydrates:

• Fresh fruit and starchy vegetables
• Whole grains
• Whole grain bread and pasta
• Beans and lentils

Fiber Rich Foods

A person with COPD should eat foods high in fiber. you  should be aiming to get around 20–30 grams of fiber each day. Here are some ideas of fibrous food you can start to incorporate into your daily diet:

• beans and lentils
• fruits and vegetables
• nuts and seeds
• whole grains, such as oats
• vegetables

Protein

Research shows that people with COPD have increased protein needs because protein rich foods help increase your muscle mass. This means that COPD patients do benefit even more from protein than individuals without COPD. Incorporating protein-rich foods during meals and snacks will improve your nutritional status and subsequently your quality of life.

Foods that are high in protein include:

• Meat and poultry
• Fish
• Eggs
• Nuts and seeds
• Tofu
• Cheese
• Milk

Mono and Polyunsaturated Fats

Basically, mono and polyunsaturated fats are good fats. These healthy fats can lower cholesterol, which is helpful for everyone, including individuals with COPD. 

Some foods that contain these fats include:

• Olive oil and avocado oil
• Salmon
• Nuts and seeds
• Avocados

Foods you Should Avoid 

If you have COPD, certain foods can make you feel worse. 

The common symptoms associated with COPD include difficulty breathing, coughing, wheezing, and mucus production. All of these symptoms can be exacerbated or made worse depending on the food you eat everyday.

In addition to eliminating exposure to smoke and other air pollutants, there are certain foods that a person with COPD should avoid in order to minimize the symptoms. Here are some of the foods and ingredients you should avoid eating if you have COPD.

Simple Carbohydrates

Simple carbohydrates offer less nutrients than complex carbohydrates. Foods consisting of simple carbohydrates include:

• Table sugar
• Chocolate and candy
• Cakes and other sugary desserts
• Sugary drinks
• Processed foods
• White bread and pasta

Many high-fat foods are nutritious, and people can include them in a healthful diet. However, many highly processed foods are high-fat, and people with COPD should avoid or limit them to promote overall health.

High Fat Foods

People with COPD must avoid or limit the following high-fat foods:

• Fast food
• Bacon and other processed meats
• Fried foods
• Sugary pastries
• Margarine
• Ice cream

Example Meal Plan 

As mentioned in the beginning of this blog, meal plans and your diet should be unique to you, your health, and your lifestyle. With that being said, people can consider the following meal plan as a guide and talk to you diatian or doctor about developing a meal plan that works best for you:

Meal prepping tips

Preparing meals and cooking can be very challenging for COPD patients. First and foremost, you should always be using your portable oxygen concentrator even while cooking to ensure you are getting the oxygen you need to maintain your energy and oxygen levels. 

Even with your oxygen therapy, COPD can make you feel low energy so you might not feel up to cooking. If this happens to you, you can consider trying the following methods:

• Quick meals: Find healthy recipes that take less than 30 minutes to prepare and cook. The less challenge and the less steps involved the better. Also, buy pre-cut vegetables to reduce meal preparation times further.

• Crock-Pot: Find healthy crock-pot recipes. You can throw the ingredients in, and simply leave all it there to cook over several hours with minimal effort.

• Leftovers: While cooking, you can try to make more than you need so that you have leftover food for your next meal or even the following days.

How to Eat More Regularly 

If you have COPD, eating can be challenging. Not only is the process of cooking tiring, but the act of eating can be overwhelming for some. Some people with COPD may experience a lack of appetite due to breathing difficulties and general chest discomfort. 

Here are some eating hints: 

• Rest just before eating.
• Eat more food early in the morning 
• Avoid foods that cause gas or bloating
• Eat 4 to 6 small meals a day
• limit liquids with meals; drink an hour after meals.
• Talk to your doctor about taking a nutritional supplement
• If you are using oxygen therapy, continue to use your supplemental oxygen device, even while you eat. 
  

Overview 

We really hope this blog gives you some ideas for meals and snacks that can help you feel better and more energized throughout the day! 

It is also our hope that you learned how consuming a balanced and nutritious diet may alleviate some of the breathing difficulties you experience with COPD. Eating healthy is also a crucial step towards preventing certain health complications in the future.

As person with COPD, you should try to eat plenty of protein, complex carbohydrates, and fiber-rich foods. Your snacks should add healthy sources of fat to your diet. Avoid foods high in fat like processed food and try to stay away from sugary drinks and food. 

After reading this blog, if you are considering changing your diet or lifestyle, talk to your doctor for advice on how to do this safely and effectively!

It is not uncommon to wake up in the morning feeling drowsy, like you didn't sleep well or long enough. However, this is something you will want to actively seek a solution for when this lack of sleep is reoccurring. 

If you wake up often with drowsiness you can't shake and feel tired every day, it could be a sign that you have sleep apnea.

There are many potential causes of sleep apnea, and each case requires special evaluation to determine what's causing the obstruction. Luckily, there are a variety of treatments and interventions that can help people with all types of sleep apnea sleep better and feel better.

Simple lifestyle changes, home treatments, or surgery can treat or even cure sleep apnea depending on what's causing the condition. In most cases, sleep apnea sufferers can find relief and get better sleep with the assistance of mouthpieces or medical devices such as positive airway pressure (PAP) machines.

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While mild sleep apnea can seem like just a minor annoyance at first, it can lead to dangerous complications over time including hypertension and heart disease. It's important not to ignore the symptoms and get proper treatment from qualified health professionals as early as possible if you suspect you might have the disorder.

If you think you might have sleep apnea, this guide will help you get started with understanding the condition and what you can do to get better. However, it's no substitute for talking to a doctor. If you have symptoms of sleep apnea you need to be diagnosed by a certified sleep specialist so you can get proper treatment right away.

Untreated sleep apnea can have devastating effects on long term health, and it's important for more people to recognize the symptoms and risks of the disorder. This sleep apnea guide will get you started in understanding what sleep apnea is, how it's caused, and what kinds of lifestyle changes and medical treatments are available to treat it.

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a common, yet serious, sleep disorder that affects at least 9 percent of women and 24 percent of men. It is characterized by difficulty breathing and waking up often during the night while trying to sleep, which leaves sufferers sleepy and fatigued during the day.

Sleep apnea occurs when your body's airways have trouble staying open and become blocked while you sleep. This is often caused by swelled, sagging, or weighed-down throat tissue than narrows and obstructs your airways when you fall asleep and your muscles relax.

Because their airways are narrowed and breathing is more difficult, people with sleep apnea experience frequent pauses in breathing (called apneas) during the night. These lapses in breathing can last just a few seconds or even minutes, and can happen as often as thirty or more times per hour.

This causes people with sleep apnea to snore, gasp, choke, and wake up frequently during the night. However, since this happens while you are asleep, many people are not consciously aware of their symptoms until a friend, spouse, or other family member notices.

The gasping, choking, and frequent waking is very disruptive and makes it impossible to get normal, restful sleep. That's why feeling tired frequently during the day is often the first symptom people with sleep apnea notice.

People with sleep apnea are essentially sleep deprived, which hurts their mood, performance, and overall quality of life. Even if you're unaware of the interruptions to your sleep, it can leave you feeling very drowsy and irritable during the day.

The constant drowsiness can be dangerous, too, because it leaves you prone to mistakes and accidents, which is particularly dangerous when driving on the road or operating heavy machinery.

How Sleep Apnea Affects Your Body

Living with sleep apnea can be difficult, and the condition can negatively affect your health and daily life in many ways.

In the short term, sleep apnea disrupts your sleep and makes you feel fatigued and unfocused. In the long term, sleep apnea puts a tremendous amount of stress on your cardiovascular system and can lead to serious complications.

People with sleep apnea are constantly sleep deprived because frequent episodes of apnea severely disrupt their sleep. The disorder leaves sufferers feeling tired, foggy, and irritable day after day, and can make concentrating and coping with stress difficult.

What makes sleep apnea so serious, however, is that the narrowed airways and frequent pauses in breathing deprive your lungs of oxygen while you sleep. As a result, blood oxygen levels drop, making it difficult for the body supply its organs and tissues with the oxygen they need.

When oxygen levels in your body are low, it puts a lot of strain on your body, and especially your heart, to compensate. When sleep apnea is left untreated this happens for hours night after night, which is very dangerous and can lead to major health problems later on down the line.

Some of the potential long-term effects of sleep apnea include:

• Depression
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Liver disease
• Diabetes
• Stroke

Key Facts about Sleep Apnea

Despite its name, sleep apnea is actually a breathing disorder. Even though it's a sleep-related condition, the most dangerous effects don't come from disrupted sleep, but rather from disrupted breathing.

Narrowed airways and constant apneas leave sleep apnea sufferers struggling to breathe and forces their bodies to cope with low blood oxygen levels every night. This can have dangerous and potentially life-threatening effects on the body over time, which is why it's important to take the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea seriously.

Unfortunately, the early symptoms of the disorder are difficult to catch. General symptoms like drowsiness or irritability are easy to ignore or write off, and many other symptoms—like nighttime snoring and choking—happen while you're asleep and not consciously aware.

This makes it difficult for people with sleep apnea to recognize the signs and get early diagnoses. A total of at least five to ten percent of adults in the United States have sleep apnea, but researchers estimate that as many as 80% of them are undiagnosed and not receiving the treatment they need.

While the disorder seems to be more common in men, it likely has to do with their larger average size and weight (having a large neck, for example, increases your risk of sleep apnea.) However, many doctors believe that as obesity rates rise, this gap between the number of men and women with sleep apnea will close.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms

The major symptoms of sleep apnea can be divided into two main categories: daytime symptoms and symptoms that occur while you sleep.

Nighttime symptoms of sleep apnea include:

• regular loud snoring
• pauses in breathing
• frequent waking
• gasping for air or choking while you sleep
  

However, most people don't even remember waking up during the night, and don't understand why they feel drowsy and unrested in the morning.

Even though frequent waking could be many things besides sleep apnea, waking up gasping, choking, or feeling breathless is a telltale sign on the disorder. Since many of the most obvious symptoms happen while you sleep, many people with sleep apnea never notice their symptoms until a friend, spouse, or family member does.

The most common daytime symptoms of sleep apnea include drowsiness, morning headaches, irritability, fatigue, trouble concentrating, and even depression. These symptoms are directly related to sleep disruptions and the lack of oxygen caused by nighttime symptoms.

These are the most common symptoms of sleep apnea:

• Sleepiness during the daytime
• Memory issues
• Trouble concentrating
• Morning headaches
• Sore throat and/or dry mouth when you wake up
• Loud snoring, gasping, or choking during sleep
• Waking frequently during the night
• Depression, irritability, or mood swings

Causes of Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea can be caused by anything that narrows or obstructs your airways while you sleep. Most cases have physiological cause, such as excess weight, inflamed or excess throat tissue, or weakened muscles in the back of the throat. This is known as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

However, in very rare cases sleep apnea is caused by a neurological condition instead of a physical one. In this case, the signal that the brain uses to tell the respiratory system to breathe gets temporarily disrupted.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

When you fall asleep, all of the muscles in your body soften and relax, including the muscles in your throat. In healthy people who don't have sleep apnea, the throat is kept open by special muscles that prevent the airways from collapsing. This allows comfortable, unobstructed breathing during the night.

People who have sleep apnea, however, have difficulty keeping their airways open while they sleep. The airways become severely narrowed and frequently collapse during the night, temporarily blocking their airways and causing lapses in breathing

Common Causes of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

• Large Neck: Sleep apnea is associated with neck size, which is in turn associated with being overweight or obese. People with necks that are at least 16-17 inches in diameter are more likely to have sleep apnea.
• Abnormal Soft Palate: The soft palate is the tissue at the back of the mouth and throat, and abnormalities in this area are a very common cause of sleep apnea. If the soft palate is enlarged, swollen, or abnormally stiff, it can narrow or obstruct the throat and cause sleep apnea. In other cases, some people's soft palates are simply more prone to collapsing.
• Weakened Throat Muscles: Some people's throat muscles are too weak or not properly stimulated when they breathe at night. Without functioning muscles to keep the airways open while you sleep, they frequently collapse, making breathing difficult and causing apnea.
• Abnormal Jaw Structure: People with slight alterations in their jaw structure can be at a greater risk for sleep apnea. It is associated primarily with the lower jaw; having an undersized, narrow, or jutting lower jaw can cause airway obstruction during sleep.
• Abnormal Mouth Structure: Minor characteristics in the mouth, such as an unusually large tongue or enlarged tonsils can obstruct the airways at night, causing sleep apnea.
• Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD): GERD and acid reflux occur when acidic fluids from the stomach leak up into the esophagus, which is especially likely to happen at night when you lie on your back. This can cause throat irritation and muscle spasms, which are thought to obstruct breathing and cause sleep apnea.

Central Sleep Apnea

Central sleep apnea is caused by problems in the central nervous system (the brain). It happens when signaling in the brainstem gets disrupted, causing the brain to repeatedly fail to send signals telling the lungs to breathe.

People with central sleep apnea experience more severe and abrupt drops in blood oxygen levels. This often causes a violent, uncomfortable awakening, which is why people with central sleep apnea can often remember waking up.

Causes of Central Sleep Apnea

• Heart disease: Heart disease, heart failure, or stroke is a common cause of a condition called Cheyene-Stokes breathing. This causes an irregular breathing pattern and repeated cycles of increased and then reduced airflow. Breathing can become so weak during the reduced airflow cycle that it stops altogether, causing sleep apnea.
• Medications: Some medications, especially opioids, can disrupt breathing patterns or even stop breathing altogether. Drugs that can induce central sleep apnea include oxycodone, codeine sulfate, and morphine sulfate.
• Altitude: Exposure to high altitudes can cause irregular breathing and a cycle of rapid breathing followed by slow, restricted breathing. This can cause sleep apnea in some people.
• Other Causes: Some cases of central sleep apnea have no obvious cause. These cases are diagnosed as idiopathic sleep apnea.

Since central sleep apnea is very rare, this guide focuses primarily on obstructive sleep apnea. However, most of the information that follows applies to both types and should be generally useful to people with all types of sleep apnea.

How Sleep Apnea is Diagnosed

Sleep apnea can go unnoticed for years since it only affects you while you sleep. This also makes it difficult for doctors to diagnose, since they have to monitor while you are sleeping to know if you have sleep apnea for sure.

Some doctors will diagnose sleep apnea based on symptoms and medical history alone, but often they will ask you to do a sleep study to confirm the diagnosis. That means either doing a home sleep apnea test or spending the night at a sleep study test lab for monitoring.

Home Testing

To do a home sleep apnea test, you take home a small monitor that measures things like your heart rate, breathing, and even blood oxygen concentration while you sleep. Afterward, you give the monitor back to a sleep specialist who will analyze the data to determine whether or not you have sleep apnea.

Sleep Study Test

A full sleep study, also known as a polysomnogram, has to be done in a certified sleep study test center. While this is less convenient than a home test, getting monitored at a sleep study center will give you much more accurate and detailed results.

To do the study, you'll have to check in to a hospital or specialized sleep center where you'll stay the night in a private room. Technicians will hook you up to a variety of equipment so they can monitor you while you sleep.

Most people are able to sleep through the study without much difficulty, even though it might seem strange and somewhat uncomfortable at first. It's worth the time and inconvenience to get an accurate diagnosis, however, and sleep centers can also set you up with a CPAP machine (a nighttime device that helps you breathe) to treat your sleep apnea if the test is positive.

Complications that Occur with Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea sufferers experience low blood oxygen levels night after night, which can lead to serious complications in the long term. Lets look at some of the major health complications that can result from sleep apnea:

Heart Problems and High Blood Pressure

People with sleep apnea are deprived of oxygen when they sleep, which puts a lot of pressure on the heart and circulatory system. Low blood oxygen levels force the heart to work harder to deliver enough oxygen to all the different parts of the body, straining the cardiovascular system and causing increased blood pressure.

This can be detrimental to cardiovascular health and lead to hypertension, irregular heart rhythms, and heart disease. Because of this, sleep apnea can be life threatening to people with existing heart problems. In the most severe cases, sleep apnea can cause heart attacks, stroke, or even sudden death.

Type 2 Diabetes

Researchers believe that struggling to breathe during the night coupled with low blood oxygen levels can lead to insulin resistance and reduce your body's ability to control your blood sugar. Because of this, sleep apnea leaves you at a higher risk for developing metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

It doesn't help that many people with sleep apnea are also overweight or obese, which is a major contributing factor to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

Liver Problems

People with sleep apnea often show signs of liver dysfunction and scarring, known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The exact cause is unknown, but researchers suspect that low oxygen levels caused by sleep apnea worsen chronic inflammation, which can harm the liver.

One study found that two-thirds of obese, middle-aged adults with sleep apnea also had fatty liver disease that was strongly associated with the disorder. The more severe sleep apnea someone has, the more severe liver disease they are likely to have also.

Liver disease also tends to be associated with high blood pressure and obesity, which can compound the problem in some people with sleep apnea.

Risk Factors for Sleep Apnea

Some preexisting characteristics, such as genetics, age, and body mass index, can put you at a greater risk of developing sleep apnea. Some of these factors, like gender and age, are uncontrollable, but some, like smoking, can be mitigated by healthy habits and lifestyle changes.

Here are some of the major risk factors for sleep apnea:

• Being overweight, especially with a body mass index above 25
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Heart disease (common cause of central sleep apnea)
• Opioid medications
• Family history of sleep apnea
• Age (most common between young adulthood and middle age, and in people older than 65)
• Being male (less common in women)
• Smoking

Treatments for Sleep Apnea

Getting treated for sleep apnea is very important for short-term and long-term health. If you think you have sleep apnea, don't wait to see a doctor and figure out a treatment plan.

Proper sleep apnea treatment can improve symptoms immediately, reducing drowsiness and improving overall quality of life. But, most importantly, sleep apnea treatments focus on allowing your body to get enough oxygen at night, protecting you from a host of serious health problems that can result from low blood oxygen levels.

There are a number of different lifestyle changes and home treatments, including mouthpieces and breathing devices, that are effective at treating most cases of sleep apnea. In severe and unique cases, when typical treatments don't work, doctors might recommend surgery as a last resort to eliminate airway obstructions causing the disorder.

Lose Weight

If you’ve been searching for a medical oxygen device to treat COPD or another respiratory condition, you’ve likely come across terms like “oxygen tank” or “oxygen concentrator.” These are both popular options for people who need long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT), but there are some fundamental differences between the two like how they produce oxygen, how they’re refilled, in addition to the benefits that they offer oxygen patients.

If you want an oxygen device that both meets your medical needs and allows you the freedom to go about your daily life comfortably, you first need to understand the difference between oxygen tanks and oxygen concentrators. Read on for a simple oxygen device comparison guide and be sure to let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

What is an Oxygen Tank?

An oxygen tank is a cylindrical container that stores compressed oxygen gas. There is a nozzle located at the top of the device that can be adjusted in order to change the flow of oxygen and there is a gauge that will tell you how much oxygen is left in the tank. Oxygen tanks were first used in hospitals around the 1950s and portable versions were introduced around the 1970s.

 Despite being the original medical oxygen device, oxygen tanks have not changed much over the years. Oxygen is a gas and the molecules in gases are much more spread out than with liquids or solids. What this means is that you can’t just keep compressing oxygen without it becoming dangerous. As a result, oxygen tanks are pretty standardized when it comes to their size and the amount of oxygen that they store.

In an attempt to mitigate the issues posed by compressed gas, liquid oxygen tanks were invented. Rather than storing oxygen as a compressed gas, liquid oxygen tanks store oxygen as a compressed liquid. While this allows the user to carry a lot more oxygen, liquid oxygen tanks come with their own set of problems. In order for oxygen to be stored as a liquid, it has to be kept at temperatures of around -297 degrees Fahrenheit (-182 degrees Celsius) which means you need a specially designed tank in order to do this. These tanks tend to be very expensive and complicated.

What is an Oxygen Concentrator?

Although oxygen tanks and liquid oxygen tanks both store oxygen, oxygen concentrators do not follow this trend. Instead, oxygen concentrators are electronic devices that take air from the surrounding environment and remove all gases except for oxygen. It then concentrates this oxygen through a nasal cannula that the oxygen patient will breathe through.

Oxygen concentrators were invented in the 1970s and they were designed to replace oxygen tanks and liquid oxygen tanks. Since oxygen concentrators are electronic, they afford oxygen patients an infinite supply of oxygen as long as they have a source of power such as a wall outlet, car outlet, or a battery. There are many types of concentrators currently available including stationary oxygen concentrators, portable continuous flow oxygen concentrators, and portable pulse dose oxygen concentrators.

How Are Oxygen Concentrators and Oxygen Tanks Similar?

They Provide Medical-Grade Oxygen

Earth’s atmosphere contains about 21 percent oxygen, 78 percent nitrogen, and a mixture of several other gases. This is the perfect amount of oxygen for someone with healthy lungs, but for someone with COPD or other respiratory impairments, it is not enough to maintain the body’s blood oxygen level. Since impaired lungs have trouble processing air and removing the oxygen, you’ll need to increase the amount of oxygen that they receive. The Compression Gas Association (CGA) classifies oxygen into seven different “grades” — each one is given a label “A” through “G” and they’re used across four different industries: welding, research, aviation, and medical.

Medical-grade oxygen is high purity oxygen that is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Since oxygen is considered a “drug,” oxygen manufacturers and retailers need to collect a prescription from their patients before selling an oxygen device to them. If no prescription was collected upon selling an oxygen device, the machine either does not output medical oxygen or it is being sold illegally.

While oxygen tanks and oxygen concentrators both put out medical grade oxygen, it’s important to make sure you’re buying from a reputable oxygen company. There are many devices sold on popular retail sites that claim to be “oxygen generators,” but if you look at the fine print, they usually say that it’s not intended for medical use. This is designed to protect the retailer from lawsuits. Fortunately, here at LPT Medical, we only sell oxygen concentrators that provide the user with medical-grade oxygen.  

There are two different types of oxygen concentrators: continuous flow and pulse dose. Continuous flow devices usually have both a continuous flow and pulse dose setting whereas pulse dose machines just have a pulse flow setting. One of the best-selling continuous flow concentrators is the Respironics SimplyGo and one of the best-selling pulse dose concentrators is the Caire FreeStyle Comfort.

They Have Continuous Flow and Pulse Dose Options

There are two different ways that oxygen can be administered: continuous flow or pulse dose. Think of continuous flow like a constant stream of oxygen, whereas pulse dose oxygen is only administered when the user is inhaling. In other words, continuous flow tends to waste a lot of oxygen because oxygen is still being administered even when the user is exhaling.

Continuous flow oxygen delivery is what all oxygen tanks provide. If you want to switch to pulse dose, you will need to purchase something called an oxygen conserving device (OCD). OCDs attach to the top of your oxygen tank and they carefully track your breathing. When you inhale, the conserver will deliver a puff (bolus) of oxygen, and when you inhale, the oxygen release valve will be shut off. This allows you to go much farther with one tank of oxygen.

There Are Portable Options

In the past, being prescribed long-term oxygen therapy meant having to give up your freedom to go out of your house. However, portable oxygen tanks and portable oxygen concentrators have allowed oxygen patients to reclaim the freedom they had before being diagnosed with COPD. Oxygen tanks come in a variety of weights and sizes and they’re typically wheeled around using a rolling cart. Portable oxygen concentrators tend to be much lighter and smaller so you can carry them around on your shoulder or back.

How are Oxygen Concentrators and Oxygen Tanks Different?

Size and Weight

Like we mentioned earlier, oxygen tanks are not going to get any smaller or lighter than they already are. Oxygen molecules can only be compressed to about 3,000 pressure per square inch (psi) before they become too dangerous to handle. A portable “E” tank weighs about 8 pounds and it will provide you with about 5 to 6 hours of oxygen on a flow setting of 2 liters per minute (LPM). On top of this, portable oxygen tanks have an oblong shape that makes them difficult to carry on your shoulder or back.

Portable oxygen concentrators, on the other hand, are electronic devices that operate off powerful and lightweight lithium-ion batteries. As a result, oxygen manufacturers can make them much smaller and more portable. Lithium-ion batteries are the same kind of battery that’s found inside your smartphone, and as you’re likely aware, smartphones have been getting much smaller and lighter over the years. Another benefit of these batteries is that they can be charged many times over without losing their efficiency. 

Convenience

Unfortunately, while portable oxygen tanks allow you to get out of the house they can be extremely inconvenient in certain situations. For example, oxygen tanks are banned by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) so you won’t be able to go on flights. So your only option when traveling across the country will be to drive or take some other form of transportation. This can also be tricky because you’ll have to find a place to refill your oxygen tanks while you’re traveling.

Another inconvenience of oxygen tanks is that they’re difficult to maneuver. For example, if you need to go up a flight of stairs, you’ll have to either pull your oxygen tank up behind you or pick it up. Another example is if you need to go to a crowded area like public transportation, your oxygen tank will take up a lot of space and people might end up bumping into it if you don’t keep an eye on it.

Portable oxygen concentrators are much more convenient because they can be carried on your shoulder under your arm. This way, when you walk into crowded areas, your oxygen device will always be accounted for and you don’t have to keep looking back to make sure it’s not getting caught on anything. It’s also much easier to walk up a flight of stairs because the weight of the oxygen device is centered over your body.

Cost

While portable oxygen concentrators have a higher upfront cost, in the long term, they are much more affordable than portable oxygen tanks. The reason for this is because oxygen tanks need to be refilled either by an oxygen company or by using a homefill station. If you opt to have full oxygen tanks delivered to your home, this will run you several hundred dollars per month which adds up real fast. On the other hand, if you choose to purchase a homefill station that operates similar to an oxygen concentrator, this will run you several thousand dollars. 

Many people think that portable oxygen concentrators will cost them an arm and a leg, but this simply isn’t the case. Portable oxygen concentrators cost between $1,000 to $2,500 on average and they last between 5 and 7 years on average. This is significantly less costly than spending several hundred dollars per month getting oxygen tanks filled and delivered. What’s more, portable oxygen financing is an option that will allow you to pay for your oxygen device slowly over the course of many months or years. This makes the upfront cost much more manageable.

Portable Oxygen Tank Overview

Portable Oxygen Concentrator Overview

Conclusion

Oxygen concentrators and oxygen tanks are two different sides of the same coin. They’re both designed to provide medical-grade oxygen for people with COPD, cystic fibrosis, and other chronic lung diseases, but they each provide different pros and cons. Oxygen tanks are usually sufficient for someone who doesn’t want to leave the house or move around too much, but portable oxygen concentrators are best for those who want to get outside, travel, and visit friends and family. In the long-term, oxygen concentrators are also much cheaper and more reliable than their counterpart.

The first step in choosing an oxygen concentrator is to ensure that it meets your oxygen needs. Once you’ve done that, you can narrow down your options based on your preferences such as weight, size, battery life, and additional features. If you reach out to our respiratory specialists here at LPT Medical, we will walk you through every step of the process so that you end up with a device that helps you achieve your short- and long-term goals. If you’re looking for a portable oxygen concentrator in Denver, please feel free to give us a call or send us an email today to get started.