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What The Difference Between Copd And Asthma

Causes And Triggers Of Asthma

Whats the difference between asthma, COPD?

Asthma is caused by swelling of the breathing tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. This makes the tubes highly sensitive, so they temporarily narrow.

It may happen randomly or after exposure to a trigger.

Common asthma triggers include:

However, the frequency and predominating symptoms in asthma and COPD are different. With COPD, you are more likely to experience a morning cough, increased amounts of sputum, and persistent symptoms. If you have asthma, you are more likely to experience episodic symptoms during and/or at night.

Another difference between asthma and COPD is the intermittent symptoms seen with asthma versus the chronic, progressive symptoms seen in COPD. Asthma symptoms are likely to occur after exposure to specific triggers, whereas COPD symptoms occur more regularly.

Maindifferences Between Asthma And Copd

  • Both Asthma and COPD are chronic lung diseases, but asthma is a separate respiratory disease, on other hand, COPD is a term for a group of two chronic lung diseases.
  • Asthma is caused due to inhalation of certain allergens, but COPD is caused due to smoking and inhalation of toxic substances.
  • Asthmatic inflammation occurs in eosinophils immune cells, but COPD inflammation occurs in neutrophils immune cells.
  • Asthmatic symptoms occur only during a certain period but, COPD symptoms can be seen all time.
  • In Asthmatic diagnosis, reversible airflow limitations occur, but COPD diagnoses are non- reversible.
  • Asthma occurs in all ages, but COPD occurs in middle-age.
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    Additional Medication For Severe Asthma

    In addition to a reliever and preventer inhaler, severe asthmatics may be prescribed other treatments. You may need to try several options before your healthcare provider finds the right choice for your needs.

    In addition to inhalers, treatment options include:

    • Long-acting bronchodilators these can be added to a preventer inhaler and help keep the airways open for at least 12 hours.
    • Leukotriene receptor antagonists a non-steroid tablet that helps to calm inflamed airways, block the effects of leukotrienes and help with allergies.
    • Long-acting muscarinic receptor antagonists a form of long-acting bronchodilator that can work for 12-24 hours.
    • Long-acting beta-agonists another form of long-acting bronchodilator that is used to relax the muscles in the airways.
    • Slow-release theophylline a non-steroid tablet that helps to relax the smooth muscles in the airways, enabling air to more easily flow through.
    • Short-acting beta 2-agonists a form of quick relief medication that can be used when asthma symptoms occur.
    • Daily steroids these are prescribed in tablet or liquid form and are a type of anti-inflammatory medicine. They work by helping to reduce the sensitivity in the airways.
    • Monoclonal antibodies a newer form of medication for severe uncontrolled asthma. They work by blocking the activity of immune system chemicals that trigger airway inflammation.

    Staging And Treatment Of Asthma

    Do you know the differences between asthma and chronic obstructive lung ...

    The goals of long-term management of asthma should include the following: 1) achievement and maintenance of control of symptoms 2) prevention of asthma exacerbations 3) maintenance of pulmonary function as close to normal levels as possible 4) maintenance of normal activity levels, including exercise 5) avoidance of adverse effects from asthma medications 6) prevention of the development of irreversible airflow limitation and 7) prevention of asthma mortality.

    The recommended GINA treatment algorithm, together with the clinical features and staging of severity of asthma, are available on the GINA website . It is important to note that the forced expiratory volume in one second levels are before treatment, i.e. in the unmedicated state.

    Until the advent of anti-inflammatory drugs, asthma was treated on an as-needed basis and treated as an acute disease rather than a chronic disease. With the recognition that asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease, there has been a gradual move towards treating it more aggressively and earlier in the hope that this may change the natural history of asthma and prevent some of the remodelling that sometimes occurs.

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    Copd Causes And Symptoms

    COPD is a set of progressive respiratory diseases. In the US, emphysema and chronic bronchitis are considered types of COPD. The main cause of COPD is long-term exposure to substances that irritate and damage the lungs. This is usually cigarette smoke, although air pollution, chemical fumes or dust are also known to cause it.

    COPD symptoms include decreased airflow, increased inflammation in the lungs, spasms in bronchioles and a morning cough with phlegm. Unlike asthma, the cough is “productive,” i.e., it yields mucus. Again, unlike asthma, symptoms of COPD never disappear — they just progressively worsen.

    A further explanation of asthma and COPD is in the video below:

    Are Asthma And Copd The Same

    The symptoms of asthma and COPD are similar in that they can both lead to:

    These symptoms are experienced differently in asthma and COPD. With COPD, you are more likely to experience a daily morning cough productive of phlegm. Changes in the coughing pattern and color of phlegm are often used by your doctor as clues if a COPD exacerbation is present. Daily coughing is characteristic of chronic bronchitis, a type or variant of COPD.

    Chest tightness and intermittent cough are more common with asthma. These symptoms will wax and wane with your asthma control. When your asthma is well controlled, you experience periods of time when you are symptom-free.

    However, the pathophysiology of asthma and COPD are very different. While the symptoms may be similar, the process leading up to the symptoms is different.

    Both asthma and COPD may be considered inflammatory diseases, but the inflammation comes from different types of cells.

    In the pathophysiology of asthma, inflammation results acutely from the production of eosinophils, while inflammation in COPD primarily involves the production of neutrophils and macrophages over many years.

    Several questions may help you know which condition you might have:

    To make this issue a little more confusing, some COPD patients can have an asthma component. Additionally, some asthma patients smoke and are at risk for developing COPD-like any other smoker.

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    Whats The Outlook For People With Copd

    With COPD, you might experience flare-ups of your condition . This is where breathing and other symptoms get worse suddenly over a short period of time. As the underlying COPD gets more severe, some people may not be able to cope with this at home and may need to go to hospital for treatment. Sadly, despite treatment, a severe flare-up can be fatal. Its thought that around 4% of people admitted to hospital with an acute COPD exacerbation will die.

    In the UK there are 1.3 million people with a diagnosis of COPD. And each year, around 30,000 people die in the UK from COPD. Its important to talk to your doctor or nurse about longer-term treatments and advance care planning. This means thinking about what you would like to happen if your condition gets worse, or you experience more severe flare-ups, to help your family and your doctor to understand your wishes. Read more information on advance care planning and taking control of your choices.

    Childhood: Risk Factors For Incomplete Lung Growth

    Asthma vs COPD: Whats the difference?

    Lung function in early adult life is a strong risk factor for the development of COPD. There is now evidence that poor lung function in infancy and childhood persists into adulthood, and that in utero events can modify airway function in early postnatal life. Stern et al studied lung function in infants soon after birth and found that poor airway function at that time was a risk factor for impaired adult lung function, suggesting that airway function throughout adult life may be determined during fetal development and the first few months of postnatal life. Maternal smoking adversely influences lung growth. In infancy there is an 1520% reduction in airflow in children born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy. In addition, maternal smoking is associated with impaired fetal growth, and intrauterine growth retardation is itself associated with impaired airway function in infancy and later life.

    Many of the risk factors for incomplete lung growth in childhood are similar to the risk factors for accelerated loss of lung function in adults, namely tobacco smoke exposure, asthma, BHR and exacerbations or respiratory infections. Additional risk factors include low birth weight, gender , nutrition and ethnicity.

    Asthma

    Early life infections

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    How Are Asthma And Copd Diagnosed

    COPD and asthma can have a lot of overlap when it comes to making a diagnosis, says Dr. Ogden. A specialist will make the diagnosis based on your clinical history, including symptoms and pulmonary function testing.

    Breathing tests to see how well your lungs function include:

    • A spirometry test: Youll take a deep breath in . Then youll blow all that air into the tubing attached to a small machine called a spirometer as forcefully as you can. This measures how much air you blow out and how fast you can do so, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Youll also perform a range of other inhalation and exhalation techniques so your doctor can assess your lung function.
    • Peak expiratory flow test: While spirometry tests can tell you a range of different things about your lung function, this test only measures how fast you can blow out air using maximum effort. It can be done during spirometry or by breathing into a separate device, called a peak flow meter. This is a small, plastic hand-held device that you can use at home or on the go to help you determine if you are having an asthma attack.
    • Fractional exhaled nitric oxide test: This one might sound like a science experiment gone wrong, but it simply measures how much inflammation you have in your lungs.

    Difference Between Copd And Asthma

    August 19, 2011 Posted by Dr.Dinusha

    COPD vs Asthma

    Any condition that causes chronic cough and difficulty in breathing is very difficult to cope with, and are associated with respiratory complications, even probably death. From multitude of conditions that affect the respiratory system, COPD and asthma are two of the commonest. COPD is the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma is bronchial asthma. The differences of these two conditions range from the afflicted demography, risk factors, patho physiology, symptoms and signs, management principles, and the prognosis.

    COPD

    Asthma

    Bronchial asthma is a respiratory tract condition, where there is an element of chronic inflammatory process with reversible narrowing of the airways and an associated airway hyper responsiveness. This is usually caused by immune mediated mechanisms and/or direct contact with minute particles. There are oedematous cells with mucus plugs, secretion of mucus and thickened basement membranes. The symptoms include, diurnal various symptoms of wheezing and cough with minute amounts of white sputum. Here, on examination of the lungs the patient will have bilateral wheezing sounds/ rhonchi. The management of this condition is by using oxygen and bronchodilators like beta agonists with long term usage of corticosteroids to retard the chronic inflammatory process. If not properly managed there can be sudden death following life threatening asthma attacks or respiratory failure.

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    How To Distinguish Between Copd And Asthma

    Daniel More, MD, is a board-certified allergist and clinical immunologist. He is an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and currently practices at Central Coast Allergy and Asthma in Salinas, California.

    Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma share a variety of common symptoms, which can make it difficult to distinguish between the two, at least initially. Because COPD has a certain stigma in our society that many patients do not like, some patients with COPD are more apt to say they have asthma. As with any condition, its important to determine the correct diagnosis to ensure that youre getting proper treatment.

    What Is The Number One Inhaler For Copd

    Industry Research

    Advair. Advair is one of the most commonly used inhalers for the maintenance treatment of COPD. It is a combination of fluticasone, a corticosteroid, and salmeterol, a long-acting bronchodilator. Advair is used on a regular basis for the maintenance treatment of COPD and it is typically taken twice per day.

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    SOR/98-462

    Registration 1998-09-16

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    P.C. 1998-1662 1998-09-16

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    Diagnosing Asthma And Copd

    With all the similarities between asthma and COPD symptoms, it can be challenging to diagnose each disease correctly without mistaking one for the other. Asthma is the most common alternative diagnosis for COPD. However, it is important to correctly identify which condition a patient is dealing with so they can receive the proper treatment.

    When a patient has symptoms that pertain to both asthma and COPD, there are a few key factors that differentiate the two. To develop an accurate diagnosis, medical professionals will ask patients dealing with breathing issues specific questions about their symptoms, such as what time of day they feel the worst. They will also inquire about the patients medical, family and smoking histories and exposure to irritants, as well as gases or vapors.

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    Firearm Licensing: A Big

    A growing number of states have acted to strengthen gun laws to address many of these weaknesses in the background check system and regulations surrounding gun ownership. In addition to a piecemeal approach to these issues, a few states have enacted a comprehensive system of firearm licensing to ensure that gun buyers are both legally eligible to possess guns and properly educated and trained on their safe use and storage. According to an analysis by the Giffords Law Center, eight states have enacted laws requiring that individuals obtain a license prior to purchasing firearms, and another three states require people to have a valid license or permit to possess firearms.38 In addition, Washington, D.C., requires the registration of all guns, which effectively functions as a licensing law.39 Firearm licensing laws vary from state to state, but tend to include the following elements: a completed background check, often requiring fingerprints review of the application by local law enforcement completion of safety training a waiting period prior to completing a sale and a license of limited duration.40

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    Similarities And Differences In Regular Standard Treatment Of Asthma And Copd

    STEP Asthma and COPD: Similarities and Differences
    • In both diseases the adequate treatment may reduce symptoms and number of exacerbations and improve the quality of life.

    • Treatment of asthma is characterized by suppression of inflammation.

    • Treatment of COPD is characterized by decreasing of symptoms.

    The GOAL of treatment in ASTHMA is to: reduce inflammation and to achieve¸total control . The GOAL of treatment in COPD is to: reduce symptoms, prevent exacerbations and decrease mortality . In both asthma and COPD almost the same drugs are used, but not in the same order and the same efficiency in treatment.

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    Expanding Access To Intensive Self

    Teaching people how to manage asthma on their own is one of the most important parts of controlling the disease nationwide. Everyone with asthma should develop an individualized asthma action plan with a doctor. In general, people with asthma arent getting action plans from their doctors. Intensive asthma self-management education can improve asthma symptom control for individuals whose asthma is not well-controlled with medical management based upon the NAEPP Guidelines.

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