Anxiety, Panic Attacks and How to Manage Them
A panic attack feels exactly like a heart attack, which is why so many arrive in emergency departments. Both need to be taken seriously — and both are treatable.
Read articleCOPD is long-term, largely irreversible narrowing of the airways, caused mainly by smoking and by years of exposure to biomass smoke from indoor cooking fires. Treatment cannot restore lost lung, but it reduces breathlessness, flare-ups and hospital admissions.
Symptoms
Not everyone gets every symptom, and the pattern can differ in older people, in people with diabetes and in children. These are the ones most often reported.
- Breathlessness that has worsened gradually over years
- Chronic cough with sputum, particularly in the mornings
- Wheezing and chest tightness
- Repeated chest infections each winter
- Reduced ability to do routine work, then difficulty even while dressing
- Weight loss and ankle swelling in advanced disease
When to see a doctor
Do not wait these out
If any of the following applies, arrange to be seen the same day. For anything sudden or severe, call 9281862028 or come straight to the emergency department at SIMS — it is open 24 hours and does not need an appointment.
- Increasing breathlessness with a change in sputum colour or volume
- Breathlessness at rest, drowsiness or confusion — attend the emergency department
- Ankle swelling with worsening breathlessness
- Coughing up blood, or unexplained weight loss
Tests that may be advised
Your consultant will order only the investigations that change the plan. Most of the following are available on the SIMS campus, so results usually come back the same visit.
- Spirometry, which is required to confirm the diagnosis
- Chest X-ray and, where needed, CT of the chest
- Pulse oximetry and arterial blood gas during exacerbations
- ECG and echocardiography to assess strain on the right side of the heart
- Complete blood count and sputum examination including for tuberculosis
How it is treated
Treatment is decided case by case — by how advanced the problem is, what else you are being treated for, and what you can realistically sustain. Broadly, it involves the following.
- Complete stopping of smoking — the only measure that slows the decline
- Reducing biomass smoke exposure by improving kitchen ventilation or changing fuel
- Regular inhaled bronchodilator therapy with correct technique
- Pulmonary rehabilitation and graded exercise
- Prompt treatment of exacerbations, with oxygen or non-invasive ventilation when needed
- Vaccination advice and nutritional support
This page is general information, not a diagnosis
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease can look like several other conditions, and the reverse is equally true. Nothing here can replace an examination, your test results and the judgement of the doctor treating you — and no medicine mentioned by name to a friend or relative should be started on the strength of this page. If you recognise yourself in it, book a consultation with the Pulmonology department. If a symptom is sudden or severe, call 9281862028.