COPD: Beating Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, is a chronic health condition that develops because of damage to the lungs. This term is used to describe three lung problems classified as COPD. These include emphysema, asthma, and chronic bronchitis.

Asthma develops when a person’s body views part of the environment, such as chemicals, cigarette smoke, or foods, as hazardous. The body activates the immune system to release biochemicals called histamines. Histamines cause inflammation in lung tissues so the body can ward off intruders. This tightens lung tissues and weakens breathing.

Persons can develop asthma at any stage of life. One of the best ways that family and friends can help individuals with this condition is to quit smoking cigarettes, because secondhand smoke is deadly. If a person just diagnosed with this condition does smoke, he or she needs to quit smoking as soon as possible.

Physicians also classify chronic bronchitis as a type of COPD. This condition develops in people who have smoked for a number of years. Tobacco smoke causes tar and bacteria to become trapped in the lungs. The bacteria cause recurrent infections in the bronchi, or airway passages, of a person’s lungs.

Chronic bronchitis scars and stiffens these passages. Individuals who have this disease have difficulty exercising or taking deep breaths. Since their airways are stiff and scarred, they become short of breath with only a little exertion. Often, if they stop smoking, some of their problems will diminish.

The final lung disease classified as COPD is emphysema. A person’s lungs contain air sacs at the end of the bronchi. These grape-shaped sacs, or alveoli, inflate and contract as an individual breathes in and out. Patients who have emphysema become short of breath and are unable to take deep breaths or exhale completely because air remains trapped in the alveoli. If they are able to learn ways to stop smoking, these difficulties sometimes get better.

Medicines and breathing exercises can help some individuals with COPD. Despite these therapies, however, such people continue to have significant levels of anxiety. Having COPD is akin to being underwater and holding your breath. Even though you try to stay under longer, you feel you must breathe – now! So you rise to the surface and take a deep breath. Those who have COPD, however cannot swim to the surface and take a deep breath.

Some stop smoking programs treat people who have COPD. The majority of COPD patients realize that smoking worsens their breathing problems. Most have smoked for many years, however, which often makes consciously quitting very difficult.

Many stop smoking programs are available. Most assist clients to use conscious effort to stop smoking. Since the habit of smoking is deeply ingrained in an individual’s unconscious, rarely do those who quit smoking through these programs stay quit without making changes at the unconscious level. Additionally, most of these techniques focus on a smoker’s physical dependency on smoking, which addresses approximately 10 percent of the addictive behavior.

Numerous stop smoking programs advertise that they help persons to relax better. The best employ Ericksonian hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Polarity responses usually happen with conventional hypnosis and direct post-hypnotic suggestions.

Ericksonian hypnotherapy employs metaphors that relay suggested thoughts for tranquility to the unconscious to help clients to conquer the propensity to behave in a manner contrary to the suggested actions. Often, individuals who are able to become calmer through the use of the NLP Flash tool are able to decrease anxiety and panic attacks better. Thus, they breathe more easily.

Ericksonian Hypnosis provides an innovative alternative strategy for helping clients learn how to stop smoking. Trained individuals who practice Ericksonian Hypnosis realize that the main issue lies in the unconscious. Therefore, they aid clients at this level, through stop smoking hypnosis. Unlike conventional programs, hypnosis to quit smoking focuses on decreasing stress, mental addiction, and the habit, which together total 90 percent of one’s smoking habit.

Because of Ericksonian hypnotherapy and NLP, COPD patients can have a better life. These therapies coach people who have breathing problems to control anxiety. In addition, they assist eliminate unconscious associations between cigarettes and environmental factors. This stops nicotine addiction. These approaches provide hope to persons who have COPD.

Summary: Three chronic lung conditions are classified as COPD. These include asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. Reducing anxiety related to breathing and helping people find ways to stop smoking are probably the most effective methods of helping persons who have COPD experience a higher quality of life. Ericksonian hypnosis and NLP strategies aid people to control anxiety and quit smoking.

Alan B. Densky, CH is the developer of the best way to quit smoking cigarettes with hypnotherapy. He offers a potent Quit Chewing Tobacco program based on the same techniques. See more at his Neuro-VISION hypnotherapy site where you can enjoy Free hypnotherapy videos and articles.

– Alan B. Densky, CH