COPD & Emphysema Support Group
COPD is a progressive disease characterized by airflow obstruction or limitation. Emphysema is characterized by loss of elasticity of the lung tissue, destruction of structures supporting the alveoli and of capillaries feeding the alveoli. Both have symptoms that include shortness of breath, among other respiratory troubles. If you are a COPD or Emphysema sufferer, join...
With the New Year just around the corner, there is no better time than the present to think about the changes you can make in your life to improve your health. And, because COPD symptoms can be so debilitating and have such a direct impact on your life, what better resolution than to take measures in 2011 to improve them?
If you think about your life and the lifestyle changes you are willing to make, why not start each month in 2011 with a new goal? Here are 12 ideas for each month of the New Year:
1.Quit smoking - Most of us know that the health hazards of tobacco smoke are startling, but, did you know that smoking cessation is the best way to actually slow the progression of your disease? And, the benefits of quitting begin almost immediately after you put our your last cigarette.
2.Get more exercise - A daily exercise routine is essential for long-term maintenance of the disease, as it increases your self-esteem, helps you regain a sense of control over your life and improves your overall quality of life. But wait! There's more: Regular exersise also helps your body utilize oxygen more efficiently, improves your endurance, and helps you breathe better.
3.Eat a healthy diet - The old adage, you are what you eat, rings true with COPD and a diet rich in foods containing vitamins D, C, E, A and B has been shown to improve lung function in COPD.
4.Learn to play the harmonica - New research suggests that playing the harmonica on a regular basis can help COPD patients breathe better. Don't have the money to buy a harmonica? Try singing! It has similar effects on the lungs.
5.Practice daily meditation - Meditation reduces the effects of chronic stress that the disease places on your body and allows you to utilize oxygen more efficiently, a plus for those with COPD.
6.Learn a new breathing technique - Not only do breathing techniques like diaphragmatic breathing help strengthen your diaphragm and other muscles necessary for breathing, they help reduce dyspnea, as well.
7.Join a COPD Support Group - If you need to vent, ask questions about your disease, or just find a new friend, the COPD Forum is the place to do it.
8.Better manage your medications - Medication mishaps can be deadly, that's why learning medication safety tips is essential for anyone with a chronic illness.
9.Participate in a clinical trial - Have you exhausted your options with your current COPD treatment program? Why not participate in a COPD clinical trial?
10.Hire a caregiver to help you cope - No one can do it alone! A COPD caregiver can help relieve some of the burden that the disease places upon your life and the lives of those you love.
11.Plant a healing garden - A healing garden can be a remarkably soothing, therapeutic experience for patients suffering from COPD, or any other chronic illness.
12.Adopt a pet - Pet therapy is becoming increasingly more popular in hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and hospices.
The right pet can help reduce stress and loneliness, decrease depression and give someone who is sick a reason to hang on.
Lifestyle changes are meant to do just that -- change your life.
The rewards of making even one of the lifestyle changes mentioned above are tremendous.
Getting started is the hardest part.
Are You Ready to Make a Lifestyle Change?
http://copd.about.com/b/2010/12/27/improving-your-copd-symptoms-in-2011.htm
Love to all of you,
Holly
If you think about your life and the lifestyle changes you are willing to make, why not start each month in 2011 with a new goal? Here are 12 ideas for each month of the New Year:
1.Quit smoking - Most of us know that the health hazards of tobacco smoke are startling, but, did you know that smoking cessation is the best way to actually slow the progression of your disease? And, the benefits of quitting begin almost immediately after you put our your last cigarette.
2.Get more exercise - A daily exercise routine is essential for long-term maintenance of the disease, as it increases your self-esteem, helps you regain a sense of control over your life and improves your overall quality of life. But wait! There's more: Regular exersise also helps your body utilize oxygen more efficiently, improves your endurance, and helps you breathe better.
3.Eat a healthy diet - The old adage, you are what you eat, rings true with COPD and a diet rich in foods containing vitamins D, C, E, A and B has been shown to improve lung function in COPD.
4.Learn to play the harmonica - New research suggests that playing the harmonica on a regular basis can help COPD patients breathe better. Don't have the money to buy a harmonica? Try singing! It has similar effects on the lungs.
5.Practice daily meditation - Meditation reduces the effects of chronic stress that the disease places on your body and allows you to utilize oxygen more efficiently, a plus for those with COPD.
6.Learn a new breathing technique - Not only do breathing techniques like diaphragmatic breathing help strengthen your diaphragm and other muscles necessary for breathing, they help reduce dyspnea, as well.
7.Join a COPD Support Group - If you need to vent, ask questions about your disease, or just find a new friend, the COPD Forum is the place to do it.
8.Better manage your medications - Medication mishaps can be deadly, that's why learning medication safety tips is essential for anyone with a chronic illness.
9.Participate in a clinical trial - Have you exhausted your options with your current COPD treatment program? Why not participate in a COPD clinical trial?
10.Hire a caregiver to help you cope - No one can do it alone! A COPD caregiver can help relieve some of the burden that the disease places upon your life and the lives of those you love.
11.Plant a healing garden - A healing garden can be a remarkably soothing, therapeutic experience for patients suffering from COPD, or any other chronic illness.
12.Adopt a pet - Pet therapy is becoming increasingly more popular in hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and hospices.
The right pet can help reduce stress and loneliness, decrease depression and give someone who is sick a reason to hang on.
Lifestyle changes are meant to do just that -- change your life.
The rewards of making even one of the lifestyle changes mentioned above are tremendous.
Getting started is the hardest part.
Are You Ready to Make a Lifestyle Change?
http://copd.about.com/b/2010/12/27/improving-your-copd-symptoms-in-2011.htm
Love to all of you,
Holly
Did you notice that there was an article about the new drug Daxas (Roflumilast)? The FDA has not approved it yet but it will be available in Canada in Jan 2011. I know there was some interest shown here in the past months.
Happy New year to all
to work on all the other suggestions.
Thanks, fightinggravity
I love the suggestion of learning to play the harmonica or singing, and I can vouch for pet therapy, I don't know what I would do without my fluffy ones :D
I am the one, I think, that has expressed a keen interest in Daxas. Is that the new one that is an anti-inflammatory? That's what I'm interested in. Whatever happened to the onbreze. Thought they'd approved that by now? :>))
Please note that this is only my opinion and nothing more.
I never did anything I am awear of that would of cause me to have COPD.
I don't think it's fair that I have COPD, after doing what I thought was right towards my body....except I do like to eat.
I need to loose a billion pounds of weight. I did it once by not eating very much and excerising. I am trying to do that again it does come back as soon as I start to eat again.
Darn it.
But I wish I could just stop eating. I wish I could ask God why me?
And of couse this is my support group here.
I choose all of you.
So there it is. Happy New Year