Annual COPD planning with your Family Physician

, Dr. Daniel Ngui, BSc (P.T), MD, CFPC, FCFP

,Annual COPD Planning Visits with your Family Physician

Duration: 2 minutes, 20 seconds

COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a chronic lung disease that has many causes including smoking, genetic factors and there’s several types including bronchitis and emphysema.

It’s important for patients to see their physicians because the disease is characterized by flare ups and remissions. And also, if you don’t take steps appropriately, it can continue to get worse. It can affect patients silently and only later can affect their quality of life and lead to hospitalizations and death.

Speaking to your family physician is vitally important to deal with COPD self management. We recommend that you see your physician at least twice a year. As our role as physicians is to help you to renew your medication, understand what you’re doing to prevent flare ups and how to reduce and to treat flare ups. Your physician may give you an action plan which can give you the tools to manage flare ups and know exactly when to ask for help.

If there’s a situation where you have a cold, there are weather changes, stress changes or changes in air pollution levels, you need to look out for symptoms and signs of a COPD flare up. The symptoms of a COPD flare include maybe one or more of the following that occur for one or more, maybe two days, in a row. The things that you as a patient can help look out for are cough and increasing cough, shortness of breath, and increase or color change in the sputum or mucus that you are coughing up.

If you notice that you’re excessively fatigued or if you’re having blue lips or fingers that’s something you definitely need to speak with your physician about. So family physicians are ideally suited to deal with patients and their concerns about COPD.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, if treated early and if treated appropriately, can really help make a difference in patient’s lives. If you have any questions or any concerns, it’s very important that you make an appointment to speak to your physician or local expert. Treatments may vary according to patient and according to physician, so once again, make an appointment and speak to your doctor.

Presenter: Dr. Daniel Ngui, Family Doctor, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Family Doctor