OUT OF BREATH?
GET TESTED
FOR COPD
Healthy Living | Fall Issue | 2017 45
the body. If not treated within
minutes, cardiac arrest can lead
to death.
Heart disease and heart attacks
can also make it harder for
your heart’s electrical system to
work. As a result, an irregular
heartbeat, or arrhythmia, can
occur. Your heart may beat too
fast, too slow, or with an uneven
rhythm. A dangerous arrhythmia
can lead to cardiac arrest.
Regular checkups help ensure
that a doctor will check
your heart for problems. Heart
disease and arrhythmias can be
treated to lower the risk of cardiac
arrest.
Be good to your heart. Don’t
take it for granted. Get tested
for heart disease, and follow
your doctor’s suggestions. See
the sidebar for questions you
may want to ask your doctor.
Many people with chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease
(COPD) don’t realize they
have it. COPD is a serious
lung disease that makes it hard
to breathe. Shortness of breath,
a constant cough, and wheezing
can all be symptoms.
COPD is very common.
It’s a leading cause of death
in the United States. There’s
a simple breathing test, called
spirometry, for COPD. It’s fast
and painless. You take a deep
breath and blow as hard as you
can into a tube connected to a
small machine, called a spirometer.
The machine measures
how much air you breathe out.
It also measures how fast you
can blow air out.
Based on this test, your
health care provider can tell
whether you have COPD. The
test also shows how severe it is.
Health care providers who specialize
in lung rehab can work
with you to help you breathe
better and stay more active.
Learn more about COPD,
and watch a video that shows
how the airways may become
damaged at www.nhlbi.nih.
gov/health/health-topics/
topics/copd.