5 Things You Didn’t Know About Living With COPD

If you’ve been diagnosed with COPD or emphysema, or know someone who has it, you don’t have to wait any longer for a treatment breakthrough. It’s already here. In the past few years, big strides have been made in treating this chronic lung condition. Here’s what you need to know about living with COPD today.

1. Breathing Troubles Are Caused by Excess Air

It might sound strange that too much air is the reason you feel like you can’t get enough of it, but that’s what happens with severe COPD/emphysema. Known as hyperinflation, the air you inhale gets trapped in a damaged portion of your lung. That causes the lung to overfill, putting pressure on the healthy parts of the lung and making it hard to push air out. If the old air can’t get out, new oxygen-rich air can’t get in. 

While there is no cure for severe COPD or emphysema, treatment that reduces hyperinflation can help you breathe better, so you can get back to doing daily tasks with ease and enjoying the activities you love.¹

2. Treatment Options Used To Be Limited

Not long ago, COPD treatment meant medication, oxygen therapy, or major surgery. 

Medication, often delivered via an inhaler, is still usually the first thing your doctor will suggest. But as the course of the disease progresses, some medications that worked well for several months may stop being effective. 

If changing to a different drug doesn’t provide sufficient relief, your doctor may prescribe supplemental oxygen for your severe COPD or emphysema. If neither medication nor oxygen is helping, major surgery – like lung volume reduction or a lung transplant – has traditionally been the next and last resort. Not anymore.

3. A Breakthrough Treatment May Be Able To Help

Three years ago, the FDA approved a device that fills the treatment gap between medication and surgery. The Zephyr Endobronchial Valve procedure (aka Zephyr Valve) is a minimally invasive option that reduces lung hyperinflation and allows patients with severe COPD or emphysema to breathe easier without the risks of surgery. 

With this one-time procedure that requires no cutting or incisions, tiny valves are placed inside your airways leading to the hyperinflated area of your lung. These valves allow air to flow out of this part of the lung but not in, thereby deflating it. In turn, the healthier parts of your lungs can expand and fill with new air effortlessly. 

4. Your Doctor May Not Know About the Zephyr Valve

Because treatment options like endobronchial valves are relatively new, not all physicians are aware of the procedure. So you’ll want to educate yourself in order to ask the right questions during your appointment and get the care that’s best for you. Talk to your doctor about the procedure and what’s involved to see if it should be part of your treatment plan. 

5. You May Be Able to Live a Fuller Life With COPD   

The right treatment plan is essential when it comes to this chronic lung disease. Once you find a regimen that works for you, living your best life is a realistic goal. Advances in treatments that reduce hyperinflation without the need for invasive surgery can help you be more active and enjoy your life with energy and confidence. 

The Zephyr Valve can be a game-changer for some COPD patients, dramatically improving their quality of life. The procedure isn’t for everyone, but it could be right for you.

Click here to get a free discussion guide for the Zephyr Endobronchial Valve Treatment for severe COPD or emphysema. Find out if this option is right for you or your loved one.

^{Brief Statement: The Pulmonx Zephyr® Endobronchial Valves are implantable bronchial valves indicated for the bronchoscopic treatment of adult patients with hyperinflation associated with severe emphysema in regions of the lung that have little to no collateral ventilation. The most frequently reported complications are pneumothorax and worsening of COPD symptoms.  The Zephyr Valve is contraindicated in patients who have not quit smoking. Please talk with your physician about other contraindications, warnings, precautions, and adverse events. Use is restricted to a trained physician. Only a trained physician can decide whether a particular patient is an appropriate candidate for treatment with the Zephyr Valve.}

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^{1. Criner, GJ, Sue, R, Wright, S, Dransfield, M, Rivas-Perez, H, Wiese, T & Morrissey, B. A multicenter randomized controlled trial of Zephyr® endobronchial valve treatment in heterogeneous emphysema (LIBERATE). Am J Respir Crit Care Med, 2018; 198(9), 1151-1164.}