Today (16th November 2022) is World COPD Day. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a group of lung conditions that cause breathing difficulties. Common symptoms of COPD are breathlessness, a persistent chesty cough, and frequent chest infections.
This year’s World COPD Day theme is ‘Your Lungs for Life.’ This year’s theme aims to emphasise the importance of lifelong lung health. While living with COPD impacts many aspects of daily living, there are several ways that COPD can be managed to reduce its effects and keep your lungs in the best condition possible:
- Keep active – Physical activity is excellent for your physical and mental wellbeing. Physical activity can be as simple as walking around your home or stretching
- Controlled breathing – Various breathing techniques can help with breathlessness. You can learn about these by visiting www.blf.org.uk
- Eat a healthy diet – Carrying extra weight makes breathlessness worse. Eating a well-balanced diet provides benefits such as reducing stress levels, improving mental health, and getting a better night’s sleep
- Do not smoke – Smoking will make the symptoms of COPD worse. This also includes electronic cigarettes; smoking E-Cigarettes is just as dangerous as smoking cigarettes.
