Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is
a chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed airflow
from the lungs symptoms,
include breathing difficulty,
cough,
mucus production,
and wheezing.
Most of the time it is caused by long-term exposure
to irritants,
such as particulate matter or cigarette smoke.
And the symptoms usually appear in adults above the age
of 40.
The two most common conditions that contribute to COPD are
emphysema and chronic bronchitis and they often occur together.
Emphysema is where the alveoli of the lungs which are
small gas sacs,
which allow for gas exchange between the bloodstream and the
air, are destroyed.
Chronic bronchitis is the inflammation of the lining of the
bronchial tubes,
which carry air to and from the alveoli.
Your lungs rely on the natural elasticity of the alveoli
and the bronchial tubes,
and thus, COPD occurs because of the impaired airflow.
So what is COVID-19?
As you may know,
the recent COVID-19 outbreak refers to the pandemic caused by the
SARS-CoV-2 virus.
This virus is classified as a positive sense.
single-stranded RNA virus that belongs to the viral Family of
Coronaviridae. The name of this family of viruses is
derived from the Latin word "corona",
which means "crown", based on how these viruses appear to
look like a crown under electron microscopy. To this day,
the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has caused approximately 450 million cases
worldwide and more than 6 million deaths.
But these estimates likely underestimate
the true numbers due to a lack of testing and
reporting. Approximately 80% of COVID-19,
infections are not severe and patients tend to recuperate without
any special treatment.
This is especially true for children and young adults,
although the Delta variant is prompting greater hospitalizations in
younger populations.
However, the remaining 20% or so tend to develop
significant COVID-19 infections. The elderly, especially those over the age
of 65 years,
as well as people with comorbidities appear to be at
a higher risk of developing.
severe infections.
These severe covid-19 infections
carry significant risk of death and tend to entail hospitalizations,
the use of mechanical ventilation and admission into
ICU to care for the patient.
Some examples of known comorbidities or medical conditions that increase
risk of severe covid-19 infections include diabetes,
HIV/AIDS and obesity. In this video.
We will be looking at how being afflicted with a
common and dangerous
respiratory comorbidity,
like COPD,
affects the pathogenesis and severity of COVID-19 infections.
There's evidence of patients with COPD may be more susceptible
to covid-19 infection.
And as we look at the biomolecular pathogenesis
of COPD and COVID-19.
Similar to other coronaviruses, COVID-19 binds to a receptor
called angiotensin-converting-enzyme 2, or ACE-2 for short.
Patients with COPD have been shown to have increased ACE
receptors in the lung tissue compared to those without COPD.
This increase in ACE receptors
may alter COVID-19 interaction,
and thereby,
increasing susceptibility to infection. ACE-2 levels are reduced once
SARS-CoV-2,
infects the host cell,
which can cause increased pro-inflammatory cytokine production,
increased vasoconstriction, increased
vascular permeability, oedema, and lung injury.
Furthermore, pulmonary inflammation increases
and acute severe respiratory failure
may ensue.
Patients with COPD are also more susceptible to infections in
general, as possibly due to decrease type 1
interferon production or immunosenescence,
which is characterized by increased numbers of exhausted
T cells and reduced numbers of memory T-cells.
Smoking may also play a role in the susceptibility of
COVID-19 in patients with COPD. Studies show that cigarette smoke
was shown to increase ACE-2 levels.
While these are proposed mechanisms as to how COPD and COVID-19 interact,
the degree to
which alternated ACE-2 levels affects the susceptibility and severity,
of the viral
infection is still unclear.
Ultimately, evidence points toward COPD as
a predictor of severe COVID-19 outcomes.
This is described in several systematic reviews on the subject,
with systematic reviews
being at the top of the hierarchy of evidence.
One large review included
as many as 59 studies, showing a large sample size.
This review found that COPD increased hospitalization odds
by 323%, increased ICU admission odds
by 35%, and increased mortality odds by 147%.
The evidence for this association is both powerful and current.
The implications of this research are that individuals with COPD
are a high-risk group,
for COVID-19,
and should be aware of this
when making both lifestyle and medical decisions.
This is a somewhat new field and it is important
to continue updating oneself on new information about COPD and
COVID-19,
if this issue is
is pertinent to you.
It is important to acknowledge that this video is for
informational purposes only.
Ask your doctor for medical advice on the subject.