Stem Cells COPD | Stem Cell Treatments

Stem Cells COPD Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease(COPD), also known aschronic obstructive lung disease(COLD),chronic obstructive airway disease(COAD),chronic airflow limitation(CAL) andchronic obstructive respiratory disease(CORD), is the co-occurrence ofchronic bronchitisandemphysema, a pair of commonly co-existing diseases of the lungs in which theairwaysbecome narrowed.This leads to a limitation of the flow of air to and from the lungs, causingshortness of breath(dyspnea). In clinical practice, COPD is defined by its characteristically low airflow onlung function tests.In contrast toasthma, this limitation is poorly reversible and usually gets progressively worse over time.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease(COPD), also known aschronic obstructive lung disease(COLD),chronic obstructive airway disease(COAD),chronic airflow limitation(CAL) andchronic obstructive respiratory disease(CORD), is the co-occurrence ofchronic bronchitisandemphysema, a pair of commonly co-existing diseases of the lungs in which theairwaysbecome narrowed.This leads to a limitation of the flow of air to and from the lungs, causingshortness of breath(dyspnea). In clinical practice, COPD is defined by its characteristically low airflow onlung function tests.In contrast toasthma, this limitation is poorly reversible and usually gets progressively worse over time.

COPD is caused by noxious particles or gas, most commonly fromtobacco smoking, which triggers an abnormalinflammatory responsein the lung.The inflammatory response in the larger airways is known aschronic bronchitis, which is diagnosed clinically when people regularly cough upsputum. In thealveoli, the inflammatory response causes destruction of the tissues of the lung, a process known asemphysema. The natural course of COPD is characterized by occasional sudden worsenings of symptoms called acute exacerbations, most of which are caused byinfectionsorair pollution.

Thediagnosisof COPD requireslung function tests. Important management strategies aresmoking cessation,vaccinations,rehabilitation, and drug therapy (often usinginhalers). Some patients go on to requirelong-term oxygen therapyor lung transplantation.

Worldwide, COPD ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in 1990. It is projected to be the fourth leading cause of death worldwide by 2030 due to an increase in smoking rates and demographic changes in many countries. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. and the economic burden of COPD in the U.S. in 2007 was $42.6billion in health care costs and lost productivity.

The twofold nature of the pathology has been studied in the past.Furthermore, also in recent studies, many authors found that each patient could be classified as presenting a predominantly bronchial or emphysematous phenotype by simply analyzing clinical, functional, and radiological findings or studying interesting biomarkers.

Bronchitis Lung damage and inflammation in the large airways results in chronic bronchitis. Chronic bronchitis is defined in clinical terms as a cough with sputumproduction on most days for 3months of a year, for 2 consecutive years.In the airways of the lung, the hallmark of chronic bronchitis is an increased number and increased size of thegoblet cellsand>mucous glandsof the airway. As a result, there is more mucus than usual in the airways, contributing to narrowing of the airways and causing a cough with sputum.

Emphysema Lung damage and inflammation of the air sacs results in emphysema.Emphysemais defined as enlargement of the air spacesdistalto the terminal bronchioles, with destruction of their walls.The destruction of air space walls reduces thesurface areaavailable for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxideduring breathing. It also reduces the elasticity of the lung itself, which results in a loss of support for the airways that are embedded in the lung. These airways are more likely to collapse causing further limitation to airflow. The effort made by patients suffering from emphysema during exhalation, causes a pink color in their faces, hence the term commonly used to refer to them, Pink Puffers.

Diagnosis Spirometry can help to determine the severity of COPD. The FEV1 (measured after bronchodilator medication) is expressed as a percentage of a predicted normal value based on a persons age, gender, height and weight: Severity of COPD (GOLD scale) FEV1 % predicted Mild (GOLD 1) 80 Moderate (GOLD 2) 5079 Severe (GOLD 3) 3049 Very severe (GOLD 4) The severity of COPD also depends on the severity of dyspnea and exercise limitation. These and other factors can be combined with spirometry results to obtain a COPD severity score that takes multiple dimensions of the disease into account.

Prognosis COPD usually gradually gets worse over time and can lead to death. The rate at which it gets worse varies between individuals. The factors that predict a poorer prognosis are:

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Stem Cells COPD | Stem Cell Treatments