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OthER MEASURES
• vaccination - All COPD patients should have the following to reduce serious illness and exacerbations:
• Annual Influenza vaccination
• Pneumococcal vaccine
• Breathing during activity
• Always breathe slowly. inhale through your nose, keeping your mouth closed. this warms and moisturizes the air
you breathe and at the same time filters it. Exhale through pursed lips.
• Breathe out slowly and gently through pursed lips. this permits more complete lung action when the oxygen you
inhale is exchanged for the carbon dioxide you exhale.
• try to inhale for two seconds and exhale for four seconds. You might find slightly shorter or longer periods are
more natural for you. if so, just try to breathe out twice as long as you breathe in.
• Exercise will not harm your lungs. when you experience shortness of breath during an activity, this is an indication
that your body needs more oxygen. if you slow your rate of breathing and concentrate on exhaling through
pursed lips, you will restore oxygen to your system more rapidly.
PROgnOSiS
• COPD is a long-term (chronic) illness. the disease will get worse more quickly if you do not stop smoking.
• Patients with severe COPD will be short of breath with most activities and will be admitted to the hospital more
often.
COMPLiCAtiOnS
• irregular heartbeats (arrhythmia)
• need for breathing machine and oxygen therapy (home oxygen)
• Right-sided heart failure or cor-pulmonale
• Severe weight loss and malnutrition
