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COPD: The term COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Therefore it means any kind of disorder that leads to obstruction of pulmonary passage can be classified as COPD. In short Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is a collective term used to define progressive lung diseases. There are many diseases that fall into this category some of these are chronic bronchitis, emphysema, refractory Asthma, and other forms of bronchitis ("What is COPD? | COPD Symptoms, Signs & Risk Factors | COPD Definition", 2017). It is estimated that around 24 million people in United States are affected with COPD (Pleasants, Riley, & Mannino, 2016). Many of them also have symptoms regarding COPD but they are unaware of it.
What do you notice in this situation? According to the case study Ms. Pierce is a chronic smoker. She has been smoking since the age of 15 years of age; currently she smokes a pack of cigarettes. COPD is more common in usually current and ex-smokers ("New guidelines …show more content…
This is because some people acquire COPD because of Genetic reasons. There are many diseases that are caused due to genetic variation or hereditary. Alpha 1 antitrypsin Deficiency is one of the examples of genetic factor contributing to COPD. Alpha 1 anti trypsin is a protein that is present in normal human blood and it protects the lungs. But in their absence the White blood cells which are known for their defensive actions for body turn out to be harmful for body as they attack the body lung parenchyma and destroy it causing COPD ("Alpha-1 Foundation | Alpha1.org", 2017). But apart from this there are still others who don’t have alpha 1 anti trypsin deficiency still they get COPD, so it is believed that there are still further genetic factors that are causing COPD in such