Smokers have been around for decades and even though today’s smokers have run out of excuses, there are still many youngsters who are or will become smokers in due course. Of these, both the new smokers and the older smokers, a very large percentage will develop lung and breathing problems.

It is a fact of life that many smokers will end up suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 90% of COPD sufferers were smokers at one time or another (a few still are), and 20% of smokers will end up with it. Even though the figures speak for themselves every day new smokers are born.

So what happens when you develop COPD? Apart from the obvious lung damage and effects on the physical well being of a person a very large number of cases will end up needing supplemental oxygen full time.

Anyone who has smoked for any length of time will have a certain amount of lung damage and this is usually irreversible (it will depend of a few factors that include how long they have smoked, at what age they started, how much did they smoke and physical characteristics). But having said that lung damage will be less when you stop smoking.

Oxygen therapy, which implies receiving supplemental oxygen, has been shown to extend life expectancy as well as making the patient less dependant on others. Thanks to this therapy patients are no longer lost in a maze of clinics, but can now keep on practicing most normal activities. Receiving oxygen and being active allows patients to breathe (simplistic but true) and also to be able to maintain a life style with a certain amount of activity. This is recognized to be really important as physical health and psychological well being do go hand in hand.

There are two aspects that need to be highlighted.

The first is preventive measures. We as a society are much more aware of the dangers of smoking and the legislation and conviction are reduced numbers of smokers, or at least smoking opportunities. This still means that many millions will require oxygen therapy in the future - but at least it’s not as any as could be. (The social costs can only be measured in billions of dollars).

The other point is that everyone expects an active life and this should also be combined with quality of life. If you are bound to a bed, whether in a home or a clinic, then for most people quality of life will be low. Oxygen therapy can now be delivered with more modern machines that allow most patients a certain level of activity - these machines include stationary and portable oxygen tanks.

It used to be that a patient that needed oxygen full time would be stuck to a clinic. If extra oxygen had to be given on a partial basis (not 24/7), then continuous visits had to be made. Now patients can get home oxygen systems as well as portable ones. This has made a great difference from all points of view - work, social activities and travel, both short distances and even flights. As a point of fact, the FAA has authorized certain oxygen concentrators on board flights.

Aside from these there is a whole range of accessories that are used - these include oximeters to measure oxygen blood saturation, cannulas (those hoses that deliver the oxygen to the nose or mouth) flow regulators.

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Tags: , dangers of smoking, smoking, stop smoking

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am and is filed under Spa Treatments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.