“COPD lung sounds: Types, descriptions, treatment, and more - Medical News Today” plus 1 more
“COPD lung sounds: Types, descriptions, treatment, and more - Medical News Today” plus 1 more |
| COPD lung sounds: Types, descriptions, treatment, and more - Medical News Today Posted: 13 May 2021 09:13 AM PDT  Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to a group of lung conditions that cause breathing-related difficulties. It can give rise to several different lung sounds. COPD can cause a variety of different lung sounds, including rhonchi, wheezing, and crackling. This article will discuss the types of lung sounds that can occur alongside COPD. It will also look at how healthy breathing sounds and how doctors diagnose COPD. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute notes that COPD can cause a wheezing sound when a person breathes. Wheezing sounds occur due to the vibrations of the narrowed walls of small airways. COPD causes the small airways to narrow, resulting in whistling sounds as air attempts to travel through the narrow passages during exhalation. When wheezing is present in the lungs, it manifests as a high pitched whistling sound during expiration. Crackling, otherwise known as rales, describes a sound in the lungs that resembles a crackling or clicking sound when a person breathes in. According to one 2021 study, crackling sounds are common in COPD. There are two distinct types of crackling sounds detectable in the lungs: coarse and fine. Coarse crackles are more typical of COPD and present as prolonged, low pitched sounds. Fine crackles are more high pitched. The crackling noise stems from air bubbles passing through fluid, such as mucus, in the airways. Coughing occurs as a biological reaction to clear this fluid. According to one 2018 article, rhonchi are low pitched, continuous gurgling or bubbling sounds that a person might hear when they inhale and exhale. These breathing sounds point to a buildup of secretions in the upper airways, which can occur with COPD. Generally, healthy breathing sounds are silent through the mouth. Doctors may classify normal breathing sounds from the lungs as:
A doctor can evaluate these sounds most effectively with a stethoscope, and they will analyze all sounds based on their duration, intensity, pitch, and timing. Healthy lungs produce sounds emanating from their respective regions. The most common test for diagnosing COPD is spirometry. This measures how much air a person can breathe in and out of the lungs. It also measures the speed at which a person exhales or completely empties the lungs. Other tests for COPD may involve chest X-rays or arterial blood gas tests to measure oxygenation in the blood. This latter test will reveal how efficiently the lungs disperse oxygen throughout the body. Although there is currently no curative treatment available for COPD, there are many treatment options to help relieve the symptoms and reduce the risk of flare-ups. Some possible treatments include:
A person can also try complementary therapies, such as yoga, massage, and acupuncture. Although these will not treat COPD, they may be able to improve the symptoms. A person should always discuss their treatment options with a doctor. Some other symptoms of COPD may include:
Severe COPD can cause:
A person should contact a doctor if they notice any symptoms of COPD. They should seek emergency care if they experience:
A person should also seek immediate help if their recommended treatment is not working. It is important to contact a doctor any time breathing is difficult or becomes laborious for prolonged periods of time. COPD can cause a person to experience a variety of lung sounds, which typically include:
If a person notices any of the symptoms of COPD, they should contact a doctor. Q:Which lung sounds associated with COPD can a person hear without a stethoscope? A:Early on, it is only possible to hear wheezing with a stethoscope and at the end of expiration. However, as obstruction of the lower airways becomes more severe, wheezing can be audible without a stethoscope and throughout expiration. Adithya Cattamanchi, MDAnswers represent the opinions of our medical experts. All content is strictly informational and should not be considered medical advice. |
| What Are the 4 Stages of COPD and the Symptoms of Each? - Healthline Posted: 04 May 2021 12:00 AM PDT Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of lung diseases that progress over time. COPD is most common in smokers and people over the age of 40. It's estimated that about 174 million people have COPD, and more than 3 million people around the world die from it each year. People with COPD often have trouble breathing, a persistent cough, and shortness of breath. COPD can be subdivided into stages or grades, depending on how far it has progressed. In its early stages, COPD is barely noticeable, but it gets worse over time unless you get proper treatment. The earlier you catch it, the better your outlook is. Keep reading to learn about the four stages of COPD. We'll break down the symptoms you can expect at each stage and potential treatment options. The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) is a program started by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and World Health Organization. Countries around the world use its guidelines and recommendations for diagnosing and treating COPD. The GOLD system previously classified COPD from stages 1 to 4 solely based on your lung capacity measured by a spirometry test. But the newest GOLD guidelines combine your spirometry results with subjective measures of your symptom severity to determine your level of risk based on their ABCD rubric.  A spirometer test involves exhaling into a machine called a spirometer. The machine measures how hard and quickly you can exhale. Your doctor will examine two numbers: your force vital capacity (FVC) and your force expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). Your FVC is the total amount of air you can breathe out and FEV1 is the amount you breathe out in one second. A ratio of your FEV1/FVC needs to be less than 0.7 for a diagnosis of COPD. Your doctor will grade your spirometry results from grade 1 (least severe) to grade 4 (most severe). These grades correlate with stage 1 to stage 4 COPD in the old system. Your healthcare provider will determine the severity of your symptoms using either the British Medical Research Council (mMRC) questionnaire or the COPD Assessment Test (CAT). Stage 1 COPD is considered mild. At this stage, you may not be aware that you have anything wrong with your lung function. Your doctor will assign you with grade 1 COPD if your FEV1 is between 80 and 100 percent of your predicted value. SymptomsIf you score grade 1 on your spirometry test, you may not have any noticeable symptoms. If you do have symptoms, you may develop a cough and increased mucus production. You may mistake the early stages of COPD for the flu. TreatmentWith stage 1 COPD, your doctor may recommend a bronchodilator medication to open up the airways in your lungs. These medications are usually taken through an inhaler or nebulizer. Your doctor may also recommend getting flu and pneumonia vaccines to prevent illnesses that may worsen your respiratory symptoms. Changing lifestyle habits that led to the development of COPD can potentially help slow the progression of your COPD. Most people with COPD have a history of smoking. Quitting smoking and avoiding secondhand smoke are two of the most important things you can to improve the outlook of your disease. Your COPD is considered to be stage 2 when your FEV1 drops to 50 to 79 percent of your predicted value. SymptomsDuring stage 2, your symptoms worsen from stage 1. Your coughing and mucus production may become more severe, and you may experience shortness of breath when walking or exercising. Typically, it's in this stage that people realize that something is wrong and seek medical attention from a doctor. TreatmentYou may be given bronchodilator medication to increase airflow to your lungs. Your doctor may recommend pulmonary rehabilitation, which is a program designed to increase your awareness about your condition. It's usually offered as a group class where you'll learn how to better manage your condition. If you have a flare-up of symptoms, you may need to take steroids or oxygen. By the time you reach stage 3, COPD is considered severe, and your forced expiratory volume is between 30 to 50 percent of your predicted value. You may have trouble catching your breath doing household chores and may not be able to leave your house. SymptomsBy stage 3, you may get more frequent flare-ups, and your shortness of breath and coughing will get worse. You will likely find you get tired easier than before. Other potential symptoms can include: TreatmentThe treatment options for stage 3 COPD are similar to stage 2. You're more likely to need to go on oxygen at this stage. Stage 4 is considered very severe. Your forced expiratory volume is less than 30 percent of your normal value, and your blood oxygen levels will be low. You're at risk of developing heart or lung failure. SymptomsBy stage 4, you'll likely have frequent flare-ups that can be potentially fatal. You may have trouble breathing even when you're resting. TreatmentTreatment options during stage 4 are similar to the previous stages. Your doctor may also recommend lung surgery to improve breathing. Surgical options include: A grade 4 score on your spirometry test is the highest grade you can receive. This category is also sometimes referred to as end-stage COPD. For many people at this stage, quality of life is usually fairly low, and symptom flare-ups can be fatal. Having COPD lowers your life expectancy. However, the amount that it affects your life expectancy depends on many factors, such as how far your COPD has progressed and whether you quit smoking or change the lifestyle habits that lead to COPD. An older 2009 study found that COPD led to a small reduction in lifespan for people who have never smoked, but a larger lifespan decrease for people who currently smoke or smoked in the past. According to the researchers, a 65-year-old man who smokes would lose 3.5 years from their life expectancy for smoking, plus the following values for having COPD:
For former smokers, the reductions are:
For somebody who never smoked, the reductions are:
In a 2017 study, researchers followed a group of long-term smokers with COPD for 5 years. They found that participants who had died before a 5-year follow-up had a longer average smoking time and a lower prevalence of quitting smoking. The researchers concluded that smoking time may be related to COPD mortality rate, and quitting smoking has the largest potential to influence COPD outlook. COPD can't be reversed, and it's currently not possible to stop the progression of your COPD completely. You can help you slow the progression of COPD as much as possible by working with your doctor and following a proper treatment program. No matter how far along your COPD has progressed, it's important to change the lifestyle habits that caused your COPD in the first place. The most important thing you can do is quit smoking. If you don't quit, you'll continue to damage your lungs, and your COPD will progress quicker than it otherwise would. Eating a low-carb diet filled with plenty of vegetables, healthy fats, protein, and unprocessed foods may help you manage your symptoms and maintain a healthy weight. Eating foods that cause bloating, like apricots or peaches, may exacerbate breathing problems in some people. Regular exercise may help decrease symptoms of COPD by strengthening your respiratory muscles and improving your cardiovascular health. COPD used to be categorized from stage 1 to stage 4 depending on how much your lung function had decreased. Now, doctors combine the results of a lung function test with subjective measures of symptom severity to determine your COPD risk. Quitting smoking is the most important thing you can do after being diagnosed with COPD to improve your life expectancy and outlook. |
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