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Smoker's blues

Any amount of treatment would be futile without cessation of smoking

The world has always been biased against smokers and never gives them any good news. Every person who smokes can be assured that every "drag" is compromising on the functioning capacity of his respiratory system and causes a disease called "emphysema" or "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease" (COPD). Apart from smoking, the other causes are asthma, and industrial pollution, but, more importantly, passive smoking!

Alveoli are the powerhouses of the lungs that are lined by thin, fragile, elastic membranes or walls richly supplied by thin blood vessels where the exchange of the gases takes place. The carbon dioxide after the metabolic activities is released through the alveoli and the rich oxygen brought in with every breath is transferred into the system.

In smokers, the tars, smoke and its toxic chemicals tend to destroy the elastic portion of the alveoli. There are also fine hairs like cilia, which keep away the tiny dust particles and flush out mucus from the lungs but are overwhelmed by the tobacco smoke which inhibits the activity and stop functioning.

The loss of elasticity of the alveoli and the benumbed cilia leads to accumulation of the mucus in the spaces while the trapped leads to blockage of the function and hence called the obstructive lung disease. When this appears in vast areas of the lung spaces, the heart needs to pump with increased force and pressure to get to flow through the lungs.

Common symptoms

* Breathlessness or a feeling of shortness of breath on routine physical activity like climbing stairs is a typical symptom though it is a characteristic of many other diseases too.

If unattended to, it can later lead to breathlessness even at rest.

* A lingering cough called smoker's caugh, with a throat irritation and production of dark, thick phlegm and mucus.

* Streaks of blood in the sputum and weight loss are the other symptoms.

Management and treatment

Cessation of smoking is primary as any amount of treatment would be futile without it. Breathing exercises can restore lung capacity to a certain extent. Mild exercises like walking, stationary cycling are recommended.

The aim of homoeopathy would be to alleviate symptoms, prevent further degeneration in lung function.

Carbo veg helps in improving the respiratory exchanges apart from the imperfect circulation. Antim tart and Ipecac help in clearing the mucus and phlegm while Stannum met helps when portion of the lung is affected. Ars alb, Spongia, Natrum sulph and Lobelia are other remedies, which gradually help prevent further degeneration. Needless to say, only when smoking is completely refrained from.

Dr.VENUGOPAL GOURI

drvenugopal@gmail.com92463 72625 (mobile)

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