For most of us, any change to our normal existence adds a certain layer of distress. But when those moments occur and you’re living with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), it can complicate your ability to manage serious symptoms like shortness of breath and wheezing. In general, life with COPD is stressful, says Grace Anne Dorney Koppel, a COPD patient advocate and president of the Dorney-Koppel Foundation. You’re constantly wondering if you’ll be so breathless you can’t get your next breath, or so congested that you can’t speak. “Anything on top of that diagnosis, whether it be a change in your insurance or a move to another location, is just additive to what’s already there,” she says.
So, when those other aspects of your life take a turn toward the pressure-filled, your ability to manage your COPD can be affected. “Stress can decrease quality of life, worsening lung function, as well as enhance forgetfulness and poor adherence to medication,” says Reynold A. Panettieri, M.D., science director at the Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. To read the full story.
