Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (or COPD) causes the constriction of the airways leading to difficulty in breathing as well as chronic cough, wheezing, and shortness of breath. This condition has a major impact on daily life and health, making it often difficult to carry on with your regular activities and prone to frequent hospitalizations due to lung infections. The main objective of treating COPD is to ensure easier breathing while protecting against lung viruses and infections that may lead to hospital stays.
Some of the common treatment options recommended for COPD treatment include:
- Bronchodilators
The use of inhalers to breathe in medicine is very effective in COPD treatment as it frees up the airways and allows the muscles to relax so that air moves into your lungs without much difficulty. It also helps in controlling the symptoms such as a cough and shortness of breath, and there are two types of bronchodilators – short-acting ones and long-acting ones.
- Short-acting bronchodilators: These are designed to work quickly and have a lasting effect for about 4-6 hours. These are prescribed only when you the COPD symptoms, and if the systems occur on and off but not too frequently. They are also advised to be inhaled only before you exercise, in case you want to do a workout regime when you have COPD. Some of the frequently prescribed bronchodilators include Albuterol (ProAir HFA, Ventolin HFA), Levalbuterol (Xopenex HFA), Ipratropium (Atrovent), and Ipratropium bromide and albuterol (Combivent).
- Long acting bronchodilators: These are designed to work with an effect that lasts up to twelve hours. They are also prescribed for daily use when you have recurring COPD systems quite regularly. Some of the commonly prescribed inhaler medication includes Aclidinium (Tudorza Pressair), Arformoterol (Brovana), Formoterol (Foradil, Performist), Indacaterol (Arcapta), Salmeterol (Serevent), and Tiotropium (Spiriva). While dry mouth and headaches are common side effects caused by bronchodilators, some of the other side effects are a fast heartbeat, constipation, shaking, and muscle cramps.
- Steroids
Swelling of airways are common when you have COPD, and the only bring them down is to take steroids that can be breathed in through an inhaler. These not only help control the COPD flare-ups but also ensure that your airways are not majorly disrupting your breathing. In the event that the swelling does not cease, steroid pills are prescribed for a more effective treatment course. Some of the common steroid medication prescribed for inhalers are Budesonide (Entocort, Pulmicort, Uceris), Fluticasone (Cutivate, Flovent HFA, Flonase), and some of the medication that contains both a bronchodilator and steroids are Budesonide and formoterol (Symbicort), and Fluticasone and salmeterol (Advair). There are quite a few side effects that can affect you when you are on COPD steroid treatment for a prolonged period of time. There are also chances that you could easily gain weight or get bruised quite easily. And some of the other significant side effects associated with this type of COPD treatment are coughs, hoarse voice, sore throat and mouth, mouth infections, weakened bones, and increased chance of infections.
