“Early diagnosis and modern treatment methods for COPD are the key to quality of life”

COPD affects almost 3 million people in Spain, and today, on World Disease Control Day, Dr. Ana Santiago RememberHead of the Intermediate Respiratory Care Unit of the Pulmonology Service of the University Hospital of La Paz, explains in an interview with ConSalud Podcasts how it affects the daily lives of those who suffer from it and the current therapeutic advances to improve their quality of life.

“A patient with COPD experiences shortness of breath or shortness of breath, and this causes them to stop doing things they would normally do, such as exercise or just going outside,” says Dr. Santiago. This suffocation causes the patient become more sedentarywhich in turn impairs lung capacity and creates a vicious cycle. “If you do less exercise, the choking gets worse,” he explains.

On the other side, exacerbationcrises that often require hospitalization are another major concern for patients because represent a deterioration in general health which is then difficult to overcome. “When you have a respiratory infection, go to the emergency room or are hospitalized, then it will be difficult for you to get back to the level you were at before,” the specialist adds.

“The range of available therapeutic options is very wide and can be tailored to each patient.”

However, Dr. Santiago emphasizes that currently There are several treatment options for COPD and improve patient’s quality of lifewith smoking cessation being the first fundamental measure. “Only by quitting smoking will we see that the curve of respiratory function, instead of a sharp drop, becomes more slowly decreasing,” he says.

Other treatments include adequate nutrition, bronchodilators tailored to each case, respiratory rehabilitation, oxygen and, in advanced stages, non-invasive ventilation. “The available range is very wide.and they go step by step,” says the specialist, pointing out the importance of adaptation treatment of individual progression every patient.

Detect COPD in early stages This is the key to changing its evolution. “We can change the natural history of the disease if we treat it early,” says Dr. Santiago. From stopping the progression of drowning to reduce exacerbations. It also allows vaccines, such as flu, pneumonia or COVID, to be administered before the disease progresses.

For this reason, Dr. Santiago suggests Population screening as an effective method for early detection COPD: “The ideal would be to perform spirometry in smokers or in the population over 50 years of age, similar to what is done for colon cancer.” The pulmonologist also emphasizes the need to train primary care physicians to perform and interpret spirometry, a measure promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) that may mark the way forward.

This interview is available on Ivoox and Soundcloud platforms.