Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a health condition that affects your lungs. Some COPD signs that are commonly observed in patients include shortness of breath, wheezing, phlegm, exercise intolerance, and chest tightness. One way you can manage COPD and reduce the intensity of symptoms is NIV ventilation. Beginning the treatment asap is necessary as it can help avoid the complications that result from COPD. To know more about COPD and its resulting problems, read further!

Health complications that can result from COPD

• Recurring respiratory infections:
  Catching on respiratory infections can hinder the breathing process and create respiratory issues. While chronic infections can tip you off about developing COPD, they can damage your lungs. Thus, you must consult your respiratory expert and get a flu shot yearly. You may also consider getting the pneumococcal vaccine to decrease the number of infections you may pick up.

• Anxiety and depression:
  The importance of mental health cannot be emphasized enough. Thus, you must pay attention to the emotional impacts of COPD, especially anxiety and depression. These signs are vital not just because they impact your quality of life. But, they also need to be paid attention to as they increase the risk of COPD exacerbation and poorer health status. Besides, COPD has also been associated with panic attacks. It can be vicious when combined with shortness of breath. People are advised to try medications and other non-pharmacological cures to manage these concerns.

• Lung Cancer:
  COPD is a risk factor for lung cancer. So, even if you have never smoked, you might develop lung cancer. And, of course, if you do smoke up, the risk of lung cancer is as high as ever.

• Pulmonary hypertension:
  If you are a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patient, you can develop pulmonary hypertension. The chances are exceptionally high in the advanced stages of the disease. However, identifying pulmonary hypertension if you have COPD can be challenging as both conditions have the same symptoms. Thus, imaging and lab tests are conducted for the diagnosis.

• Heart disease:
  Another complication one may develop due to COPD is heart attack and heart disease. Since smoking can contribute to the problem, COPD patients are advised to quit the habit.

• Respiratory Failure
  Since COPD affects your lungs, it is common for patients with this condition to experience respiratory failure. It happens when the lungs fail to pass the oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from your system. The first symptom of this problem that the patients typically notice is an issue with breathing. People feel they cannot take a deep breath or get enough air in their lungs. When this happens, the cells in the body experience a lack of oxygen (hypoxemia), excess carbon dioxide (hypercapnia), or both. For this reason, you may feel tired, sleepy, lethargic, or confused.

So, these are a few complications that may arise if you are suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).