RSS

What Is COPD?

5:07 PM | Labels:

Once known as two separate conditions (emphysema and chronic bronchitis), COPD is a serious, disabling lung disease that makes breathing difficult.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States and a significant cause of disability.
Most people are more familiar with the terms emphysema or chronic bronchitis, but COPD is the term doctors are using more today. "COPD is a term that the scientific and medical community is trying to get the public to recognize. It encompasses chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The reason we combined them is because they come from the same thing, mostly smoking, and they usually coexist," explains Norman Edelman, MD, chief medical officer for the American Lung Association in Washington, D.C.
COPD is a progressive disease, which means that it gets worse as time goes by if nothing is done to slow the course of the disease. While doctors cannot cure COPD or undo the damage to your lungs, changing your lifestyle (giving up smoking, staying physically active) and taking certain medications may help you remain active and healthy longer.
COPD: What Happens in Your Lungs
Changes in your airways and the air sacs in your lungs characterize COPD. These changes, which all reduce your ability to breathe easily, include:
  • Less elasticity of the airways, so there is less expansion to make room for the air you breathe in
  • Destruction of tissue walls between the air sacs (or alveoli) which means there is less ability to take in oxygen from air
  • Swelling of your airways due to irritation of the lining
  • Production of a greater amount of mucus, which then makes it harder to breathe
Emphysema is largely characterized by the destruction of the lung and air sac wall tissues, while chronic bronchitis results from inflamed or clogged airways. If you have a cough and a lot of mucus on most days for three months a year (at least) for two years in a row, you have chronic bronchitis. However, since both of these conditions occur together in the same person much of the time, they are now considered to be part of COPD.


The Timeline of COPD
For most people, COPD takes many years to become disabling. Unfortunately, says Dr. Edelman, many people do not talk to their doctor when they first become aware of the earliest signs and symptoms, such as shortness of breath. Many mistakenly believe this is a natural part of aging or slowing down, or they may think it doesn't matter because they are only feeling breathless during or after exercise. This is why many people don’t get diagnosed until COPD has progressed.
"We think anybody who is at risk for COPD — that is anybody who ever smoked — and anybody who is short of breath for any reason, even if they haven't smoked, should tell their doctor and ask for a test we call spirometry. It's a simple test that measures how well you breathe," he says. Depending on the results of that test, you might need further testing to find out if you have COPD or another lung disorder.
Initially you may only have COPD symptoms such as coughing or occasional shortness of breath. Periods when symptoms become worse are called acute COPD or exacerbations. As COPD progresses you may be told you have chronic COPD, which means that without medication to improve lung function you could have symptoms all the time. Even when you have chronic COPD that is under control, there may be times when you have acute COPD symptoms because of infections or something in the air that irritates your lungs and airways.
Understanding COPD can help you make choices that will prolong your active, healthy life.

Read User's Comments(1)

Storing Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

10:33 PM | Labels:

Fresh produce can be pricey, so the last thing you want is to throw away wilted vegetables and rotten fruits. Try these food storage tips to keep produce fresh.

 

Fresh fruits and vegetables should definitely be part of your diet, but it's easy to rack up half of your grocery bill before you ever leave the produce section. And when you've spent that much money, you'd hate to waste it by tossing out fruits and vegetables that spoiled before you had a chance to eat them. Proper food storage is the key to saving your fresh produce — and your money.
Storing fruits and veggies
"How you store fruits and vegetables will impact how fresh your produce will stay," says Erin Palinski, RD, a registered dietitian in private practice in northern New Jersey. For instance, it’s important to quickly get vegetables that tend to wilt into the refrigerator. Storing vegetables at room temperature can make them softer than you may like.
Plus, fresher produce simply tastes better. "Produce that begins to decay will have a different, less-pleasant taste than fresh produce," says Palinski.
Food Storage: Basic Rules
"Produce that tends to last for a long period of time, such as potatoes and onions, is usually best stored in a cool, dark place," says Palinski. Produce that spoils quickly should be refrigerated to help extend the shelf life and should be washed only before eating, since additional moisture may speed the spoiling process.
It’s also best to refrigerate produce at about 38 degrees Farenheit and store it in the produce drawers, says Palinski. "If you are going to wrap produce, use paper bags instead of plastic bags." Another storage trick is to use perforated plastic bags for refrigerated produce.
If your vegetables are nearing their “expiration dates,” but you won't have a chance to make use of them, you don't have to throw them away. Palinski suggests blanching (a quick boiling process), then freezing them in a plastic wrapping.
Food Storage: Tips for Common Foods
Follow these guidelines for storing vegetables and fruits:
  • Apples: At room temperature for up to seven days or refrigerated in a plastic bag if you won't eat them that quickly.
  • Bananas: At room temperature, both ripe and unripe.
  • Grapefruit: At room temperature for one week or refrigerated for up to two or three weeks.
  • Peaches: At room temperature in a paper bag if unripe; remove from the bag when ripe and eat within a day or two.
  • Strawberries: Refrigerated for one to three days without washing.
  • Oranges: At room temperature for a day or two or refrigerated for up to one or two weeks.
  • Broccoli: Refrigerated for three to five days.
  • Carrots: Refrigerated, stored in a plastic bag with the green tops cut off.
  • Iceberg lettuce: Refrigerated in a plastic bag after rinsing and drying.
  • Tomatoes: At room temperature, out of direct sunlight — they quickly lose their taste if refrigerated.
Another important point: Don't pile all your fruits and veggies together in one bowl — they can cause each other to spoil. "Keep quick-ripening vegetables away from foods like avocados, cantaloupe, tomatoes, pears, and apricots," says Palinski. "These items emit ethylene, a gas that can cause nearby vegetables to spoil more quickly." Most apples also emit this gas.
Food Storage: Plan Ahead
Storing fresh produce properly helps it last, and planning before you go food shopping can help you maximize your fresh produce costs. "Make a plan of what you're going to eat over the next few days, and then buy only the produce you need for that plan," says Palinski. "Also, try shopping for produce twice a week — every three to four days — to select the freshest produce and avoid buying too much since some will inevitably go to waste."
At the store, make the fresh produce section one of your last stops before checkout. "This way, there will be less time between the grocery store and the refrigerator," adds Palinski.
Plan your meals to use the fruits and vegetables that are most perishable first. Vegetables that spoil relatively quickly include tomatoes, broccoli, asparagus, and mushrooms. Vegetables that last a little longer are peppers, squash, spinach, and most types of lettuce. Root vegetables like onions, carrots, potatoes, and garlic can last much longer.

Read User's Comments(0)

Osteoporosis

10:32 PM | Labels:

From exercise to diet, find out how you can reduce your risk of osteoporosis.

You can reduce your risk of osteoporosis by making several changes in your lifestyle. Osteoporosis prevention relies primarily on a healthy, calcium-rich diet, adequate vitamin D intake, weight-bearing exercise, and other healthy habits. Making the right choices now can significantly impact your level of osteoporosis risk later in life.
lifestyle changes for osteoporosis prevention
“Prevention is the key word that we don’t say enough. We talk about what needs to be done once someone has been identified to be in an early stage of the disease. Folks need to be very conscious of their own behaviors,” advises Lenard Kaye, PhD, director of the University of Maine Center on Aging. Kaye and his colleagues recently completed a series of national focus groups with women and health professionals to assess priorities and awareness surrounding osteoporosis prevention and management. He highlights several lifestyle choices that have been shown to help reduce the risk of bone loss and osteoporosis:
    1. Increase your calcium intake. Both calcium and vitamin D are essential for bone health. You can make sure that you're getting the daily recommended doses of each by taking a daily calcium supplement — adults require about 1,000 mg of calcium per day — and by getting 15 minutes of sunlight (since vitamin D is made naturally in the body during sunlight exposure). Vitamin D supplements of 400 IU can also help with calcium absorption.
    2. Engage in weight-bearing exercise. “The importance of weight-bearing exercise in osteoporosis prevention can’t be overstated. We recommend beginning early,” says Kaye. Regularly engaging in weight-bearing exercises, like running, walking, strength training, aerobics, jumping rope, and yoga — anything that requires your bones to support your weight — will help strengthen the integrity of your bones.
    3. Revamp your diet. Calcium, vitamin D, and magnesium are important, but you also need to have the energy and ability to remain active. Kaye says this means that for some women, a low-calorie diet may be needed to control obesity so they can be active and engaged. A diet high in salt or caffeine may also contribute to bone loss. Talk to your doctor or a dietitian if you are not sure about the overall quality of your diet.
    4. Maintain a healthy body weight. Your bones have the best shot at long-term health if you are neither over- nor underweight.
    5. Toss the soda. Carbonated beverages have been shown to contribute to bone loss. This may be because the carbonation affects calcium levels in bones, or it may be because if you are drinking soda or sparkling water, you are not drinking a more nutritious beverage such as milk or fortified orange juice, which can help build stronger bones.
    6. Stop smoking. There is an association between smoking and an increased risk of osteoporosis.
    7. Monitor your alcohol intake. While some studies suggest that the occasional glass of wine could strengthen bones, alcohol abuse has been shown to contribute to bone loss. Women should have no more than one alcoholic drink a day and men should limit themselves to two drinks.
    8. Talk to your doctor about medications that might negatively affect your bones. If you are taking corticosteroids long-term for asthma or an autoimmune condition such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, talk to your doctor about what you can do to protect your bones from the negative side effects of these medications.
    9. Get screened. If you believe that you are at risk for osteoporosis, talk to your doctor or nurse about getting a bone density screening. The majority of health plans pay for these tests, which are not invasive, lengthy, or painful.

“Some folks have a rather pessimistic view of osteoporosis and other conditions. They either have the fatalistic view that it’s unavoidable or they continue to delude themselves into thinking they are invincible. Either perspective is flawed. What you want is for people to take on a realistic view of themselves and their capacity to prevent a wide range of chronic illnesses,” says Kaye, and osteoporosis is no exception.

Read User's Comments(0)

Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)