Is there an association between Chronic obstructive Pulmonary disease Research Paper

Is there an association between Chronic obstructive Pulmonary disease and acquisition of Pulmonary Tuberculosis - Research Paper Example This review of literature will discuss about the possible correlation of COPD to the acquisition of pulmonary tuberculosis. COPD is often diagnosed with middle-aged adults. Unlike tuberculosis, this disease isn’t transmissible. Experts opined that there is no available cure yet to the lungs and airway’s damage caused by COPD but treatments and change of lifestyle can slow down the advancement of the disease to help a person get a better health and sustain his active life (Blanc, Flazon, Fitzpatrick, Floyd, Garcia, 2010, p. 1). Medical experts explicated that an infected person will often have difficulties in breathing because the airways and air sacs could drop its elastic ability; the air sacs walls are destroyed; the airways thickened and are inflamed; or the airways produce more mucus than what it’s normally producing (Caballero, Torres-Duque, Jaramillo, Bolivar, Sanabria, 2012, p. 1) Often, COPD disease is prevalent among cigarette smokers and those predispos ed to getting lung infections. Aside from difficulty of breathing, they cough a lot and produce deep wheezing and excessive amount of mucus, thus, tightened the chest and other symptoms (NIH, 2012; Crothers, Butt, Gibert, Rodriuez-Barradas, Crystal, & Justice, 2006, p. 1326). Family members who live with smokers are likely to get second-hand smoke and may acquire COPD or emphysema or chronic bronchitis. Chronic bronchitis is a situation where the lining of the airways is always irritated and inflamed and the lining begins to thicken because of the irritation and subsequent coughing. In emphysema, air sacs, which are found at the end of bronchial tubes, lose their elasticity and the walls where the oxygen and gas exchanges occur, break down and are destroyed. Airways can also get clogged over time, creating a very dangerous situation in breathing for people. In essence, at its worst example, people are suffocating to death (NIH 2012). As COPD affect the lungs, so its tuberculosis. Un like COPD, tuberculosis is a contagious disease and the transmission could be airborne. Like COPD, if not cured, could lead to the early demise of patient. In similar context as that of COPD, the country is also plagued with numerous cases of tuberculosis that is estimated to have reached the population of 10 to 15 million people of infection. At a global scale, TB has already killed an estimated 1. 9 million people annually. Health experts reported that nearly a third of the global population is affected with pulmonary TB. Both COPD and tuberculosis affect the lungs and offer similar threats to the life of the person affected with it. Both are deadly, if not cured. As it paralyzes a person from taking an active lifestyle if not medicated, victims or those who choose to become victims of this illness will seriously impact their economic well-being and consequently become a social burden too. The stigma embed in tuberculosis could only be dealt when the family and the patient underst ood the need to undergo six months medication to mitigate the advancement of this disease. Health advocates professed that the only way to resolve this health concern is early detection and treatment to gain tuberculosis control. Based on statistical data of the World Health Organization, one-third of the world’s population is infected with Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. The pandemic has reached an alarming figure of 8.7 million people under new cases of TB