According to WHO, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) kills an average of one person every 10 seconds. Most of the deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Unfortunately, Russia is also at risk: COPD can be found in nearly 22 million US citizens.
We are used to the fact that people most often die from coronary heart disease, strokes, cancer. Meanwhile, by 2030, COPD may become the third cause of death, – says the director of the Research Institute of Pulmonology, academician Alexander Chuchalin . – Now the real prevalence of the disease exceeds official statistics by 9 times.
What is the danger of this disease? In people suffering from them, the airway patency gradually decreases, the organs experience oxygen starvation, a cough and shortness of breath appear. The disease is incurable: it is impossible to stop the process of lung tissue damage that has begun once. 90 percent of patients with COPD are smokers. Often, people do not attach importance to light cough in the morning, or write him at undertreated cold. And the disease develops over the years. And when the doctor still makes a diagnosis – the patient has the third, fourth stage, he is practically disabled.
Every year in our country, about six percent of the total health budget is spent on the treatment of COPD. And every five years, the number of people suffering from this disease increases by more than 4 percent. This is such a serious damage to the country’s economy.
– Last year, direct costs for treating patients with COPD in the United States amounted to 8 7 million dollars. And there are still indirect losses associated with reduced performance, premature death. – And hospitals, clinics are not always equipped with the necessary equipment for timely diagnosis of the disease. And her treatment in the later stages is one of the most expensive. The man is extremely exhausted, he almost can not breathe. And the only way out is expensive oxygen therapy, artificial lung ventilation.
Patients for 12-14 hours are chained to a special device. But, unfortunately, on average, only one out of three cases of COPD is diagnosed by doctors.
That is why people often develop serious diseases on the background of COPD – hearts, kidneys, problems with bones, and lung cancer is not excluded. More than 25% of people with coronary heart disease die during the exacerbation of COPD.
The situation is aggravated by the fact that the necessary medications are not available for many patients. Concessionary drugs can receive only disabled, suffering from COPD. And those who disease lungs revealed on early step such opportunities are deprived.
what advise doctors
In the zone risk – those who lives in ecologically disadvantaged areas, working in hazardous production, smokers. To protect yourself from this incurable disease, first, you need to quit smoking. Secondly, in time to treat viral and infectious diseases of the respiratory system. If the cough is observed for more than 5-7 days or there is constant shortness of breath – this is an occasion to consult a doctor. And remember about the symptoms of COPD: chest tightness, shortness of breath, cough, wheezing, sputum.
It is worth noting that control over your own breath is a very useful thing. Knowing the specifics of the process, you can literally rebuild and heal your body.
First, while breathing in, the muscles of the entire body relax. At the final moment of inhalation and during exhalation, the muscles “remember” their position and become tense. This allows you to stretch the muscles, ligaments and tendons. For example, have you ever tried to sit on a splits? In most cases, this will take a lot of time, and some will not succeed at all. And now try the same thing, but make a drawdown while inhaling. The result will achieve several times faster.
Or you want to tighten the stomach. As you inhale, pull it in as far as possible. On exhalation, save this position and inhale again on the next inhalation. A few of these breaths and the stomach “remember” this position. Of course, the effect will be only temporary, but if this is included in the training complex, the result will remain.
Secondly, the process of respiration is very well connected with the circulatory, nervous and lymphatic systems. The qigong system is based on this property . In fact, it is an alternative to acupuncture, or massage. But if you can not stick a needle into the brain, or a finger in the eye, so as not to feel all the delights of such entertainment, then breathing exercises allow you to achieve the same effect without the following inconvenience.
Thirdly, the breathing process is an excellent indicator of relaxation. The more relaxed your muscles and brain are, the less oxygen you consume. Well, if you consider that the brain consumes over 70 percent of oxygen, learn how to turn it off. And then stay under water for one and a half to three minutes will not be your limit.
The above is only a part of all the properties of breathing. To mark all, you have to write a whole book. And I do not pay for it. So back to training.
There are various methods to train breathing, from swimming to yoga. However, it is unlikely that anyone will want to change their lifestyle for the sake of it and spend time on all sorts of nonsense. Therefore, all these methods are reduced to three points.
- Training should take place in a state of active oxygen consumption, that is, during or immediately after the active load.This gives a good incentive to the work of the chest – the speed, strength and depth of breathing.
- You need to breathe through the nose.Why?It’s all about the quality of the air that goes to the lungs. In the nasal cavity, the air is cleared of dust and aggressive compounds, heated and humidified. That is, it becomes most convenient for gas exchange. In the case of breathing through the mouth, the air bypasses the complex preparation process, and gas exchange worsens.
- Breathing must be deep.That is, while inhaling, the chest should go as far as possible forward and up, and the stomach forward and down.On the exhale, on the contrary, the chest sinks as far as possible, the shoulders come forward, and the stomach tightens. So doctors recommend breathing. Why? With such breathing, the fullest filling of the lung cavity with air and the “lazy” pleural cavities in the area of the diaphragm occur.
However, during a workout, the belly should be excluded from the breathing process. There are several reasons for this: with such breathing, the abdominal muscles are stretched and its volume increases; the spine in the lumbar region bends forward, which can eventually lead to osteochondrosis; abdominal muscles take the load, weakening the work of the chest. Therefore, during the workout breathing belly should be kept drawn.
Deep breathing needs to be done only as long as it is necessary. As soon as the need for oxygen is satisfied, and you began to experience discomfort, immediately proceed to normal breathing. Otherwise, it can lead to various violations, including loss of consciousness.
Breathing training cannot be independent, therefore, they do it only in combination with another training session or during hard physical work.
A very simple but very useful exercise was popular in the Soviet Union: to raise your arms through the sides upwards while inhaling, to hold your breath for a second and to lower them as you exhale. It is interesting because it allows you to increase the volume of the chest. To improve its efficiency, it is necessary to slightly change it: while inhaling, raising your arms to the sides upwards – hold your breath – lower your arms – press your elbows to the sides – exhale.
This is a purely male version. It is contraindicated for women as it increases shoulder width. In this case, the “support” is the air trapped in the lungs, so the old version remains for them. In the process of training is not superfluous to alternate these two exercises.
At first, the chest will ache. This is normal. Over time, learn how to inflate a heating pad and win races, getting certificates, cameras and hair curlers. However, it would not hurt even the power. But this is a topic for another discussion.