Understanding respiratory inhalers and how they help.
Quick links:
Through consultation with your Specialist Physician a pharmacological treatment plan may be developed to help manage your COPD. Currently, there are many differing inhaler/puffers used to treat COPD (see below) and it is imperative to understand how your medication affects you.
For a current list of available COPD medications visit the Lung Foundation Australia website.
COPD stands for ‘Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease’. It is a long-lasting disease of the lungs. If you have been diagnosed with COPD it means that you have damage to the small airways in your lungs. COPD cannot be cured or reversed, but it can be treated. The good news is that by following the steps below, you can reduce ALL your symptoms and slow down the damage being done to your lungs.
Step 1. Stop smoking
Step 2. Seek help from health professionals
Step 3. Boost your health
Step 4. Protect against flare-ups (exacerbations)
Step 5. Join a support group
For more information regarding the Stepwise Management of COPD visit the Lung Foundation Australia website.
The COPD-X Plan is the Australian and New Zealand online management guidelines for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It has been developed jointly by The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and the Lung Foundation. It is written as a decision support aid primarily for general practitioners and other primary health care clinicians managing people with established COPD. It is regularly updated as new evidence is published.
The guidelines aim to:
The key recommendations are summarised in the “COPDX Plan”:
The COPD-X Plan is endorsed by the following professional bodies:
This very useful resource contains the complete COPD-X Guidelines and is fully searchable.
Click here to visit the COPD-X website.
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