Articles

COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. and affects 16 million people. Additional millions have the disease, but have not yet been officially diagnosed. So, a...

The past few mornings I was greeted with sunshine and the sounds of birds chirping. Temps in the 60s and 70s and very little humidity. This wasn’t because of a...

You have been diagnosed with COPD, which is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. This is a disease of the lungs that causes obstructed airflow. COPD is the third leading cause of...

Unfortunately, we must all accept that doctors in the U.S. today have very little time to spend with each patient. Changes in health insurance and electronic records have greatly changed...

So, what is a breathing treatment? Who needs them? How do they work? Here’s what to know. Actually, here's some basic terms associated with breathing treatments. It’s a small, handheld...

Around Mother’s Day, my heart always feels a little empty. My mom was a woman who could fill a room with laughter and love. Even when she was confined to...

In my EMT class some years back, when we were learning to take patient evaluations and then the reports, sob kept coming up. The patient was sob. I couldn’t believe...

COPD is best treated with inhaled medicine. However, there are 2 ways of delivering this medication: There are pros and cons to both methods and no one right answer for...

The term “COPD flare-up” gets bandied around quite a bit. So, what exactly are flare-ups anyway? What causes them? Here’s what to know. According to Oxford, a baseline is "a...

COPD is a chronic respiratory illness for which there is no cure and that will progress steadily over time. How much time can vary greatly. Often it will take years...

Every day has been a race to get functional again. My mom passed away January 16, 2018 from cancer, another close relative was diagnosed with breast cancer just a few...

As a child asthmatic, I got to know my respiratory therapists. Two therapists I met in 1980 are still friends to this day. In fact, they were helpful in me...

When I set out to write this article, I was feeling down about my limitations and didn't particularly know what to say about COPD, but felt like I needed to...

On January 16, 2018 I said goodbye to my mom. She didn’t have COPD, she had 2 types of cancer. It was a blessing, because the cancer had affected her...

I was given the asthma/COPD overlap diagnosis when I was 25 years old. But for me, the COPD part has been pretty mild, however I do have severe asthma. Being...

You hear the term bandied around. It’s described by the GOLD COPD guidelines as a key component of COPD. If you have it, and it’s always there to some degree...

People have asked frequently about lung doctors and who are they. Is there someone else they should be seeing? They wonder if they are getting the right medications, because medications...

Based on the feedback on my last article, which was fantastic by the way; I am left with a growing number of questions for my doctor. I’ve been told to...

I work at a small town hospital. Where I work professions are color coded. This makes it nice for patients. Once they know the color scheme, they know who they’re...

1. Did you know that COPD was first referred to as “chronic airflow obstruction” and “chronic obstructive lung disease.” The first person to use the term COPD, was in 1965...