NUR 290 Lecture Notes - Lecture 47: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Sputum, Bloating
Document Summary
Definition: pulmonary disease that causes chronic obstruction of airflow from the lungs. Keys point for copd: limited airflow (due to thick and swollen bronchioles that have become deformed with excessive sputum production and this narrows the airways) Inability to fully exhale (due to loss of elasticity of the alveoli sacs from damage and the sacs start to develop air pockets) Types of copd include: emphysema pink puffers , chronic bronchitis blue bloaters . As the alveoli inflate and deflate with ease, inhaled oxygen attaches to the red blood cells and carbon dioxide enters the respiratory system to be exhaled. In conditions such as chronic bronchitis blue bloaters : The name blue bloaters is due to cyanosis from hypoxia and bloating from edema. The bloating is from the effects of the lung disease on the heart which causes right-sided heart failure. In chronic bronchitis, the bronchioles become damaged that leads them to be thick and swollen and deformed.
