I can't tell you how many times a person with emphysema/COPD has come up to me, really frustrated, and said, "There must be something they can do to help me breathe better. Can't they just go in there and do something to open up my lungs?" Or, "Can't they do something to get rid of all that extra air? It seems like they can do everything else... Read more
It was Mary Pierce’s 40th birthday. As she stood in her kitchen that day, her phone rang. It was not a call from a friend to wish her well, but news from her doctor that would change her life. “I was right,” he said. You have this thing called Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. It’s... Read more
Probably one of the biggest issues faced by people with COPD is loss; the loss of their former level of activity, the loss of the ability to do what they used to do, and perhaps the biggest concern of all, the loss of control over their breathing - and their lives. In another COPD blog, "Now What? Six Steps to Breathing Better with... Read more
You would think that breathing would be as easy as inhaling and exhaling, requiring no thought at all. But for people with COPD, breathing can sometimes be very difficult - sometimes seeming almost impossible. Today we're going to begin to talk about proper breathing techniques with COPD. Some of these techniques can be used with other... Read more
If you smoke cigarettes and are thinking about quitting or are already trying to quit, you probably can't help but wonder just what is going on in your lungs. After all, the lungs can be pretty mysterious. What do they look like? We know they're filled with air, so does that mean they're like balloons? Are they... Read more