Contents:
- Medical Video: Understanding COPD
- Tips for healthy living with COPD
- 1. Get vaccinated
- 2. Avoid germs
- 3. Stop smoking
- 4. Keep the air clean in your environment
- 5. Maintain fitness and stay slim if needed
- 6. Eat smaller portions, but often
- 7. Reduce stress
Medical Video: Understanding COPD
Having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or commonly abbreviated as COPD, certainly has its own challenges. Especially if COPD is experienced at a severe stage. Just doing a routine that is commonly done can be tiring because the body lacks oxygen. That is why COPD sufferers must try to keep their condition from worsening. It's good, you know the tips for healthy living with COPD that can be followed so that it can improve quality of life.
But how should people with COPD go through life? What restrictions and recommendations do they have to do? Maybe some of the tips for healthy living with the following COPD can help you find out.
Tips for healthy living with COPD
1. Get vaccinated
People with COPD usually experience worsening conditions due to flu attacks and cold. In normal people, this condition is a common condition that does not even require special treatment. However, for people with COPD, this can worsen the condition of your airway which is already disturbed.
When you are in a healthy state without any disease, you might never think of having an annual flu vaccination regularly. However, if you have COPD, you should protect yourself by vaccinating influenza regularly every year. That way, you will reduce the risk of exposure to flu.
Usually, influenza vaccines have two types, standard injections and nasal sprays. Make sure you have a vaccine in the form of an injection rather than spray. Why? The nasal spray vaccine is a live vaccine and can be more detrimental than beneficial if you suffer from COPD. In addition to the annual flu vaccine, it is important to get a pneumonia vaccine at least once, by injection booster as recommended by the doctor.
2. Avoid germs
No one wants to be in a place with a lot of germs. However, the situation is sometimes truly unavoidable. Do your best to avoid people who are sick. Party events and meetings involving many people are also at risk as a gathering place for germs and bacteria, especially in the influenza season.
Maybe, the choice to skip the party if the organizer is sick or doesn't feel well also needs to be considered. This is to maintain the health condition of your body.
3. Stop smoking
Almost everyone agrees that smoking is a bad habit, even the smoker himself. The danger that is directly in contact with the lungs makes it a most significant risk factor for people with COPD. Quitting smoking is one of the tips for healthy life with COPD, even for everyone who is in good health.
Ever heard that e-cigarettes are better for COPD sufferers? Don't be fooled first. The content, if compared to ordinary cigarettes, may indeed be less toxic substances. Electric cigarettes may not contain tar, but e-cigarettes usually contain various additives such as flavorings that you breathe together and will drop in your lungs. Remember that it is not yet known whether these ingredients are safe for your new lung or not.
4. Keep the air clean in your environment
Air quality can also trigger shortness of breath and other symptoms of COPD. If you live near a factory and the air quality is bad, make sure that the air in your room is clean. Besides that, you can use it high-efficiency particulate water (HEPA) filter.
The filter can filter up to 99 percent of indoor air pollutants. Tips for healthy living with COPD to improve the quality of other indoor air is to get rid of carpets and clean the room with environmentally friendly products or with natural cleaners such as water and soap, baking soda and vinegar.
5. Maintain fitness and stay slim if needed
Although people with COPD often and easily experience shortness of breath, it does not mean they cannot exercise at all. In fact, COPD patients are encouraged to keep exercising and train their breathing muscles. The key to exercise for COPD sufferers is not to be too heavy or too light.
In addition to strengthening the breathing muscles, you also need exercise to burn fat so that your body weight is maintained so that it does not cause new problems, such as obesity. Let's think like this, what do you feel if you have to carry a 4.5 kg suitcase all the time? You will be out of breath.
This also applies if you have an excess weight of 4.5 kg around the stomach to carry everywhere. Being overweight will burden you with carrying your own body weight.
Even if you have to reduce fat, it does not mean you have to exercise hard so that your weight drops dramatically. The most correct is to maintain an ideal body weight, because research shows that lack of weight can increase the risk of death in patients with COPD. Run a balanced diet and consult your doctor if you are unsure about your normal weight.
6. Eat smaller portions, but often
Many COPD sufferers feel short of breath after eating large portions. You should eat smaller portions, but often throughout the day. Doing this will prevent you from feeling "full". Besides bringing many benefits, eating smaller portions can often help you keep getting food while losing your appetite.
7. Reduce stress
Stress certainly makes a person's basic condition worse, both healthy people and sick people. Exercise and sleep at least seven hours per day is the best stress reliever you can do. Exercise is probably the last thing you want to do if you suffer from COPD, but exercise can reduce the symptoms of COPD and will ultimately make you more energetic if you do it right.
Controlling the symptoms of COPD can sometimes make you depressed, but tips on living healthy with COPD above can make your life easier and happier. Avoiding triggers and maintaining good health as possible will be very beneficial in treating this progressive lung condition.
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
