What are the various stages of COPD?
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Hello, COPD or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is the name of a group of progressive lung diseases. The most common illnesses are associated with COPD. There is hardly any cure for this disease. But there are certain treatments that can help to ease the symptoms of this illness and lowers the chances of complications which in turn generally improves the quality of life of COPD patients. There are various stages of COPD can you tell what are they and how they are treated?
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@sham Hello, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD) is a medical condition that causes inflammation in the respiratory tract resulting in the development of excess mucus and breathlessness. Even though the main cause of it is smoking, non-smoking individuals with an impure environment can also get it. Ages of COPD are not only analyzed by its severity but also symptoms associated with the stage. There are 4 stages of COPD:
Stage 1- the initial stage, patients in this stage do not show any symptoms. Most of the cases are not even aware of the medical condition at this point or confuse it with a general cough. In case a patient shows level one in a spirometry test with the FEV1 being between 80 and 100, then it is considered COPD stage 1.
Stage 2- the cough gets persistent and worse and it may hamper your daily life. For starters, it can cause shortness of breath during daily life activities.
Stage 3- The symptoms at this stage get more serious, you are not able to do household chores without feeling tired or drowsy. The cough is more frequent and flare-up episodes are more severe. At this stage, the FEV1 is between 30 and 50.
Stage 4- The very last and serious stages of all, the symptoms may cause critical medical conditions of lung or heart failure. You may feel breathless even in the state of rest as the oxygen level in your blood is below normal.