*Hack, Hack, Wheeze* Hookahs May Be as Harmful as Cigarettes
Smoking tobacco through a hookah may be trendy, but smokers who go the water pipe route may be fooling themselves if they think it’s safer than smoking cigarettes.
Tag: Cigarettes
How Does COPD Feel?
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a common result of long term smoking. If you smoke, just plan on getting COPD. It’s just one of the many choices smokers make unwittingly when they light up that pack of cigarettes during their routine day. Let me try to briefly explain what COPD is for those without a healthcare background. Essentially COPD, or emphysema, is the destruction of your little air sacs, known as alveoli. The airways also become rather loose and will constrict upon breathing out. This traps air in the lungs, which eventually leads to poorer gas exchange with the blood. So your lungs basically become less and less efficient at their job, which is to get the good air in and the bad air out.
This isn’t the COPD 101 definition, but it will do for our purposes today. So what are the symptoms of COPD? Lets list a few of them here.
1. Shortness of breath. That feeling where you just can’t seem to get enough air in and suffocation becomes a very real concern. No matter what you do, the breath just doesn’t seem deep enough nor does it come fast enough.
2. Chronic cough. You just get that little tickle in the back of your throat, so you cough and cough, hoping to get a some relief. Right when you think you’ve got it licked, it shows up again for another round. The cough never seems to go away for very long.
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About the Author:
There are several environmental factors which can cause COPD. Exposure to biomass fuels and indoor wood burning stoves, pollution and second-hand smoke are all known causes. But the largest risk factor for developing COPD is smoking. I don’t think anyone is surprised by this fact. COPD is the fourth largest health concern in the world, in terms of deaths per year. Sadly, it’s rate has not declined in the last decade like the top 3 have. Smoking cessation is the best way to limit the effects of COPD.
For more information on COPD symptoms and how to stop smoking, please visit our website at stopsmokinghelper.org.
Tim Frymyer is a licensed respiratory therapist who is dedicated to keeping the public up to date on the latest stop smoking information.
For more information on COPD symptoms and how to stop smoking, please visit our website at stopsmokinghelper.org.
Tim Frymyer is a licensed respiratory therapist who is dedicated to keeping the public up to date on the latest stop smoking information.