E-Cigarettes Yield A Real Option To Those Suffering From COPD
People with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) suffer from shortness of breath cause by narrowing of the airways. The symptoms are similar to those of asthma sufferers but the narrowed airway is reversible with asthma. COPD becomes progressively worse with time and cannot be reversed.
Smoking is the leading cause of COPD. An inflammatory response in the lungs is triggered when particles and noxious gases are inhaled with cigarette smoke. In the airways, the response is diagnosed as chronic bronchitis. Emphysema is inflammation tht affects the alveoli of the lung with a inflammation that destroys tissues.
Symptoms can worsen suddenly leading to acute episodes of COPD. Pollution in the air or an inflection can quickly lead to an acute episode. Lung function tests are used to diagnose COPD with testing to measure the volume of air and the speed of air flow of the patient.
A person with COPD requires oxygen therapy for the long term. You will often see people in public places who are wearing a bulky oxygen pack around their waist, carrying a small oxygen bottle in a backpack or even wheeling oxygen on a cart as they walk around.
COPD cannot be cured but it is possible to manage the disease in an effort to slow the progress of symptoms and to prevent acute occurrences. Physicians recommend strategies for management that are often prefaced with a demand that the patient stop smoking immediately. Further management tactics include rehabilitation, the use of inhalers as drug therapy and obtaining recommended vaccinations.
Highly addicted tobacco smokers often ignore medical advice to stop smoking after receiving a diagnosis of COPD. They may believe they can’t quit but more often they feel it’s too late to quit as the damage to their lungs has been done. It is sad to see a person irrevocably linked to a tank of oxygen while inhaling yet more toxic tobacco smoke.
The rehabilitation includes sessions of exercise and of breathing steam in an effort to ease the flow of oxygen through the patient’s airway. The suggestions to use nicotine patches or gums are often ignored by those who are addicted to the experience of smoking. The recommendations are not seen as viable alternatives by a person with a habit that includes puffing on a cigarette, inhaling smoke and holding a cigarette in their hand.
A viable alternative for highly addicted tobacco users is the electronic cigarette. With flavor that mimics tobacco without the additives and toxic chemicals associated with tobacco, e-cigs offer the experience of smoking without the risk of further lung damage. There is a product to hold in the hand, vapor to inhale and puffing on the best electronic cigarette is an experience quite similar to smoking tobacco. Clearly, e-cigarettes would eliminate the noxious gases of burning tobacco that cause further lung damage to those with COPD. Reports of benefits in inhaling the vapor of e-cigs by comparing it to steam therapy is only anecdotal and can only be verified through further scientific testing.
Mary Kay Rivers has become an expert on all facets of electronic cigarettes. Her articles about the controversial substance propylene glycol in electronic cigarettes and about the best electronic cigarette have become very popular.

