Being diagnosed with COPD can be a very frightening and disheartening experience. It's common to feel fear and apprehension about living with the diagnosis and maybe even guilt about what you did or didn't do that might have caused your COPD.

Pulse flow portable oxygen concentrators are different from continuous-flow concentrators in that they detect when you inhale and deliver a bolus dose of oxygen on-demand. Concentrators with pulse-flow technology are intuitive and responsive by automatically adjusting the amount of oxygen they deliver based on your breathing rate.

In both developed and undeveloped countries around the world, it is estimated that 9-10% of people are affected by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Experts have made a prediction that by 2020, it will be the third leading cause of death in the world as the population ages and people continue to smoke. More than 12 million people have been diagnosed with COPD in the United States alone and it is the third leading cause of death claiming more than 120,000 American lives each year.

Getting enough sleep is a daily challenge for many people with COPD. Between coughing, breathing troubles, and shortness of breath, it's no wonder that the disease makes it difficult to relax and sleep soundly at night.

If you have COPD, you're probably no stranger to feeling drained, tired, and lethargic. Fatigue is a common problem for COPD patients, and a serious one at that. Fatigue is a common culprit behind exercise avoidance and sedentary living, which causes many patients to experience a quicker physical decline.

If you have COPD, then you know that it can be dangerous when your symptoms suddenly get worse. That's why preventing flare-ups and exacerbations is one of the main goals of treatment for people with COPD.

Although COPD is known primarily as a lung disease, some of its most serious complications have to do with the heart. People with COPD tend to struggle with a variety of cardiovascular symptoms and complications, including cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and heart failure.

Lung function decline is a defining characteristic of COPD, and it gets worse as the disease progresses. Because of this, most COPD patients eventually have to begin using supplemental oxygen to help their lungs once they become too weak to absorb enough oxygen on their own.

The purpose of supplemental oxygen is to deliver extremely oxygen-rich air to your lungs, usually using a pressurized oxygen tank or an oxygen concentrator. This air, generally about 85-95 percent pure oxygen, allows your lungs absorb more oxygen with every breath.

Supplemental oxygen is a very important part of COPD treatment because it helps your lungs take in enough oxygen to supply your organs and tissues with the oxygen they need. Without it, your blood oxygen saturation can fall to unhealthy levels—a condition called hypoxemia—which can lead to serious, life-threatening complications over time.

For many patients who have COPD, oxygen therapy is a major feature of day-to-day life. If you use oxygen during the daytime, managing oxygen tanks and equipment inevitably becomes a routine part of almost every daily task and activity.