|Breathing Well: Pulmonary Rehabilitation |
Breathing Well: Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Treats People with COPD
Do you ever feel like you can’t get enough air?
Maybe you cough with almost every breath, or
have trouble clearing your throat. Could it be
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)?
COPD is a lung disease that includes both emphysema and
chronic bronchitis. A person with COPD has difficulty
breathing due to narrowed or blocked airways to the lungs.
Over time, air sacs (or alveoli) in the lungs are destroyed
and can no longer provide oxygen to the blood. Symptoms
include trouble breathing or a cough that won’t go away.
COPD develops gradually, over many years. Smoking is the
most common cause of COPD. Other causes include longterm
exposure to pollution or second-hand smoke.
There is no cure for COPD, but there are treatments to
help. Inhaled medications can open up the airways to ease
breathing. Special techniques taught in a pulmonary rehabilitation
class can help you manage shortness of breath
and improve muscle strength.
"The sooner COPD is detected, the better the results
of treatment," says pulmonologist Dmitry Lvovsky, MD.
"There are different ways to treat the disease, based on its
severity, so it is important to have your symptoms evaluated
by a specialist in pulmonary diseases."
For referrals to Bridgeport Hospital physicians
specializing in COPD or other pulmonary diseases,
please call toll free, 24/7, at 1-888-357-2396 or visit