Diseases and procedures

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

  Lung disease related to tobacco consumption. It is a chronic and progressive disease. Approximately 25% of smokers will develop COPD. Its onset is insidious with non-specific symptoms such as cough, expectoration and acute bronchitis which are given little importance. This means that it takes time to diagnose it and it is usually done in phases when the respiratory capacity is already significantly affected. Its main symptom is dyspnea (shortness of breath) on exertion. The only action that stops the progress of the disease is to stop smoking. The main treatment is inhaled bronchodilator drugs, which improve symptoms. When the pulmonary function is very impaired, respiratory failure may appear and treatment with oxygen at home must be instituted. It is often associated with other diseases (comorbidities).
  of a cardiovascular nature (often linked to the same risk factor, tobacco), but also a consequence of the decrease in physical activity due to suffocation (obesity, loss of muscle strength, osteoporosis) and affectation of the psychosocial sphere ( depression, anxiety, social isolation). In the advanced stages they usually require urgent care/admission and follow-up visits. All together conditions great burdens on the family environment. The millet approach is preventive with the promotion of healthy lifestyle habits.

• Asthma

  Chronic inflammatory disease of the respiratory tract, conditioned in part by genetic factors, which causes narrowing of the bronchi in response to various stimuli (allergy, pollution, viral infections and some drugs such as anti-inflammatory drugs). The prevalence varies depending on age, sex and geographic location. The treatment is preferably with anti-inflammatory drugs and inhaled bronchodilators with the aim of maintaining control of the disease (symptoms and lung function) as well as preventing exacerbations, which can put the patient's life at risk
  Adherence to treatment is key to achieving control. Patients who do the treatment at high doses and do not succeed
  Controlling the disease should be evaluated at a specialist consultation

• Lung cancer

  It is the first cause of death from cancer and its frequency is increasing in both men and women.
  Largely related to tobacco. It is caused by disordered growth of the cells of the bronchial mucosa.
  It is the second most common cancer in men and the fourth in women. It is the cancer with the highest mortality rate, but with the therapeutic advances of recent years, it is expected to be chronic. The best approach, however, is still to quit smoking and have healthy lifestyle habits.

• Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILD)

  Heterogeneous group of chronic diseases that are characterized by being infrequent,
  difficult to diagnose and often require complex treatments. In all these diseases, the lung tissue is damaged (with or without a known cause) and does not heal well, with scars appearing that gradually replace the healthy tissue. As a result, there is a loss of lung function. According to the cause they can be classified into:

  • Idiopathic fibrosis: no known cause.
    • idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)
    • Idiopathic fibrosing non-specific interstitial pneumonia.
  • Fibrosis of known cause or associated with other diseases:
    • Chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis
    • Pneumoconiosis by inhalation of particles
    • Non-specific fibrosing interstitial pneumonia associated with autoimmune diseases
    • Pneumonitis induced by drugs or radiotherapy

  The symptoms are irritative cough and suffocation on exertion. In the forms associated with other diseases we will also find the
  symptoms specific to these (arthritis, skin lesions...).

• Sleep Apnea (SAHS)

  It is a disorder in which breathing is interrupted in whole or in part repeatedly during sleep. It affects 2-5% of the general population and is more common in men. Often associated with obesity.
  Its consequences derive from:

  • The low quality of sleep that is light and fragmented: sleepiness during the day, lack of concentration, memory problems...)
  • The efforts of the inspiratory muscles to reopen the airway, associated with tissue deoxygenation/reoxygenation phenomena, causes cardiac work overload, arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension

  It is proven that SAHS is an independent risk factor for the occurrence of cardiovascular disease (mainly hypertension, stroke, arrhythmia and heart failure. It is also associated with a greater risk of suffering traffic accidents)