Did you know that living with COPD can make it more difficult to think, make decisions, and remember things? It's true; studies show that COPD can cause mild cognitive impairment, a condition that affects your memory and other mental functions.

Unfortunately, many people are unaware of, or underestimate, the effect that COPD can have on your brain. Because of this, many COPD patients experience mental decline without ever realizing that their disease could be the cause.

This is a shame, especially because COPD-related mild cognitive impairment is both treatable and preventable. But in order to avoid it or minimize its symptoms, you have to understand what it is and what is has to do with COPD.

Getting diagnosed with COPD can seem overwhelming, especially when it catches you by surprise. It's often even more overwhelming to get used to all the new treatments, medications and lifestyle changes required to keep your lungs healthy, especially while you're still trying to come to terms with your diagnosis.

As a chronic disease, COPD requires constant work and careful decision-making to keep the symptoms under control. Because of this, it's no surprise that new COPD patients make a variety of mistakes that can affect their health and well-being.

Between making changes to your diet, exercise routine, medications, and many other activities of daily life, there are a lot of opportunities for error. As you adjust to life with COPD, it's important to avoid making mistakes that could serious consequences for your health, or at least catch and correct them early on.

COPD affects more than 11 million people in the US, both men and women alike. However, there are some noticeable differences between how men and women are affected by the disease.

For example, in recent years, significantly more women than men have been diagnosed with COPD. Men and women can also have different COPD symptoms, and gender can even affect how quickly the disease progresses and gets worse.

Other differences show up in the doctor's office, when doctors give different care to men and women with early symptoms of the disease. This results in many women having to wait longer to get tested and diagnosed for COPD.

Pulmonary nodules—or spots on the lung—are the source of a great deal of worry and stress for the thousands of people who are diagnosed with them every year. Despite the fact that pulmonary nodules are relatively common, the majority of people don't really understand what they are or how they work.

Many people's first thought is that pulmonary nodules are cancer—but this is not always true. In reality, most pulmonary nodules are harmless, and only a very small percentage of them turn out to be cancerous.

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with lung spots, then you might be worried and you might have a lot of questions. In this guide, we hope to answer these questions and give you all the information you need to better understand pulmonary nodules and the level of risk they pose.

ResMed is one of the top names in respiratory medical equipment. They specialize in portable oxygen concentrators and sleep apnea devices. In fact, the last portable oxygen concentrator they released, the LifeChoice Activox 4L, has been one of the most popular units on the market for the past few years. 

Influenza—also known as the flu—is one of the most common and deadly viruses that spreads throughout the US every year. With the peak of the flu season beginning in January and continuing through March, now is the time to get your flu vaccine if you haven't done so already.

Experts recommend that every person over 6 months old get the flu shot every year, but it is especially important for older adults and people with serious health conditions. This applies particularly to people with chronic respiratory diseases like COPD, who have a much higher risk of experiencing life-threatening complications if they get exposed to the flu.

Because COPD is a breathing disorder, most of the symptoms of the disease are caused by not being able to get enough oxygen when you breathe. However, there is another, equally serious breathing problem that COPD patients face, which is not exhaling enough carbon dioxide (CO2) when they breathe—known as CO2 retention.

Whether you've been recently diagnosed with COPD or have been living with the condition for years, you are bound to have lots of questions. These might include questions about your health, your disease, your medications, your treatment options, and more.

As these questions come up over the course of your COPD treatment, your doctor will be your primary source for answers. But in order to get the right answers and the information you need, you first have to know what questions to ask.

Communication between doctors and patients should never be one-way; it's just as important for you to communicate with your doctor as it is for him to explain information to you. In order to get the best treatment possible, you need to keep track of all your questions, articulate your concerns, and remember to bring them up with your doctor when you have the chance.

Planning a big trip is never a simple task, but it can be especially difficult if you use supplemental oxygen. It can be complicated, stressful, and even feel overwhelming to travel when you have to bring oxygen everywhere you go.

Cruises can be even more daunting than other types of travel, since they are relatively long and remote excursions. They take you far from home and in to foreign places, which requires some extra planning and care.

It's safe to say that most people don't look forward to doing chores, but this is especially true for people with COPD. Household tasks are unpleasant enough on their own, but they are much worse when you have to do them while struggling to breathe.