Family Assessment Term Paper. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): A Family Assessment

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): A Family Assessment
Name
Institutional Affiliation
 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
        Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is ranked the fifth in major causes of death among adults (Pauwels & Rabe, 2004). COPD is a prevalent progressive and incurable disease among adults worldwide. Scholars have developed increased concern about the disease because of the increase in the number of deaths rising from this illness. Today, scientists’ have settled on smoking as the major cause of death for the disease. According to COPD Chronic diseases are persistent, and they cannot be cured through medication or vaccines. Additionally, the word “chronic” means that these diseases do not just disappear, hence creating a need for necessary interventions in their management. According to Lipinska and Kuna (2014), people can manage to live with this illness for a long period if there is proper care in its management.  The management of a disease refers to all the process surrounding how an individual lives with a disease, the immediate family members perceives it, and the health care providers” (Lipinska & Kuna, 2014).  People with COPD face functional limitations and will become helpless at a particular stage of their life. This is because COPD is progressive and its severity increases with time. 
     COPD is a general term referring to a group of three disease: emphysema, chmronic bronchitis, and asthma. COPD is characterized by increasing breathlessness as the person ages due to inflammation of lungs that causes obstructed airflow from the lungs. The difficulty in emptying air out of the lungs makes the person feel tired and at times helpless because the individual is using a lot of energy to empty the lungs (American Thoracic Society, 2013). According to American Thoracic Society (2013),  about fifty percent of cigarette smokers are expected to develop COPD in their lifetime. This is a significant population considering that most people are addicted to smoking. Even though the symptoms of COPD sometimes improve after the patient stops smoking cigarettes. Additionally, regular medication can diminish the severity of the disease in addition to attending pulmonary rehabilitation centers. However, shortness of breath and fatigue may never go away, and at times they can increase. However, patients can learn to manage this condition individually or with the help of caregivers leading to a fulfilling life in the last days of the patient. 
People diagnosed with COPD live in a world full of uncertainty, especially because they do not know how long they are to live with this disease. At times, all the diseases under COPD can attack an individual, and in severe cases, cancer and heart diseases may also crop up as opportunistic diseases due to COPD (Lipinska & Kuna, 2014). The family of the affected individual experience a lifetime of emotional, social, and financial distress because of this disease. In other cases, the family may be forced to sell its fortune to cater for medication of the affected individual, even when they know that the disease will not go away.
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