Treatment Options for COPD

No cure exists for the two main types of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. There are treatment options, however, to reduce the severity of the symptoms.

Quit Smoking!

Patients with COPD need to be proactive to protect their health and that means they must stop smoking. That is the best step someone with COPD can take to improve his health. Smoking may not have caused the COPD but it will make it worse over time. Smoking causes damage in the airways and the alveoli in the lings. People who can't quit smoking on their own can use one of the products available like gum and patches. Some antidepressants are thought to help deal with cravings when quitting smoking.

Medication

There are medications that can treat the symptoms of COPD but they can't undo the damage to the lungs.

Corticosteroids have been used for some time to treat bronchitis and emphysema. They are currently used to treat severe cases of COPD and work in about 25% of COPD patients. Taking these medications for a long time can cause some troubling side effects including osteoporosis, diabetes, increased blood pressure, and weight gain. That is why corticosteroids are only used as a treatment for COPD for short amounts of time or when nothing else has worked.

Bronchodilators are an effective treatment for COPD used by many people. They are much like what is used for treating asthma. They work by relaxing the muscles around the airway and come in pill form or inhaler form. There are also stronger doses that can be taken intravenously. Inhalers are best because they have less side effects. The best inhalers are MDIs or metered dose inhalers. These take practice to learn to use but they prevent medication from building up in the mouth and throat.

Beta-agonists are also medications used for treating COPD. They work by binding molecules in the muscles of the airways so they stay relaxed and breathing becomes easier. They work when people are short of breath. Most types work in just a couple of minutes and the results last a couple of hours. Serevent and Foradil are beta-agonists that take longer to work but they last as long as 12 hours. These medications become less effective over time, though.

Anti-cholinergic drugs work by counteracting a chemical from the nerve cells called acetylcholine, which causes muscles at the airway to tighten. This medication is given through an MDI inhaler in most cases.