AN APPLE A DAY By Tyrone M. Reyes, M.D. (The Philippine Star) Updated September 04, 2012 12:00 AM
The demise of Dolphy last July triggered a genuine national mourning in honor of a true icon of the Philippine entertainment industry. It was reported that he died of multiple organ failure following recurrent episodes of pneumonia, brought about by a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The most common risk factor for COPD is cigarette smoking. During Dolphy’s golden era, smoking was common. Medical science neither knew enough nor did it provide the needed health warnings on the dangers of smoking. Truth to tell, at that time, it was fashionable to smoke, and scenes of glamorous stars smoking were commonly seen on the big screen in both local and Hollywood movies.
COPD takes your breath away
COPD refers to a group of lung diseases that limits airflow as you exhale and makes it increasingly difficult to breathe out. COPD affects thousands of Filipinos and is usually attributed to exposure to tobacco smoke and airborne irritants over a period of time. Most often, it occurs in long-term or former smokers. Left untreated and allowed to progress, COPD literally takes your breath away.
Each time you inhale, air travels through your windpipe into airways in your lungs called bronchial tubes (see illustration). These airways branch many times in your lungs, dividing into thousands of smaller, thinner tubes called bronchioles. At the end of each bronchiole are clusters of air sacs (alveoli). Inside the walls of the alveoli, tiny blood vessels (capillaries) absorb inhaled oxygen and release carbon dioxide so it can be exhaled.
Healthy bronchioles and alveoli are stretchy, so when you breathe in, each little air sac fills up like a balloon, and when you exhale, each deflates. Although a slight decline in lung function is part of normal aging, it’s a different scenario for lung damaged by COPD. The tubes can be thickened or plugged with mucus, and the air sacs can be destroyed and very floppy. As a result, the lungs can’t expel air well, so they become less efficient. This process gradually becomes worse over time more slowly if you stop smoking and faster if you continue.
Source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=844909&publicationSubCategoryId=80
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