If you grew up hearing the phrase “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” then you’ve probably spent your life trying to eat healthy foods. However, “eating healthy” isn’t necessarily just about eating healthy food; it’s about getting the right balance of nutrients that your body needs.

If you’ve already read our blog on treating and overcoming sleep apnea, you know that sleep apnea is a common disorder with potentially serious implications. While sleep apnea symptoms may seem mild at first, over time, obstructive sleep apnea may eventually lead to increased blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease, depression, and more. 

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung condition that affects millions of people across the country. Advanced stages of COPD can lead to debilitating symptoms such as breathlessness, wheezing, and chest tightness. Since there is no cure for COPD, managing its symptoms is the best way to prevent it from progressing.

Without oxygen, human life would not exist. Much like the water you drink and the food you eat, the oxygen you inhale plays an essential role in helping your body convert nutrients into usable energy, occurring through a process called cellular respiration.

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.

Exercise is absolutely vital for healthy living, especially if you have COPD or another respiratory disease. But when you're hooked up to your oxygen tank or concentrator, it can make working out and doing other physical activities a little bit more tricky.

Fortunately, exercising with oxygen isn't too difficult if you know how to do it right. In fact, the extra oxygen you get should make it easier to exercise by improving your endurance and making it easier to breathe. 

In this article, we're going to give you a variety of tips and techniques to help you better manage exercise while you're using supplemental oxygen. That way, you can continue living an active, healthy life without letting your disease or your oxygen therapy get in the way.

When you suffer from a breathing disorder like COPD, it's vital to breathe air that is clean and healthy as often as possible. Respiratory diseases leave your lungs and airways extra sensitive to irritation and inflammation, which means that even small amounts of airborne contaminates can worsen COPD symptoms and even cause exacerbations.

Regular physical activity is a vital part of keeping yourself healthy if you have COPD. Unfortunately, the very nature of the disease makes exercise more difficult, with fatigue and breathing difficulties being some of the major symptoms.

Everyone experiences bloating every now and then, often the result of a big meal or a minor stomach illness. However, bloating tends to be a frequent problem for people with COPD for different reasons, and it's a problem that is frequently underestimated.

Having a dry mouth is a symptom that many COPD patients experience, although it is often overlooked. Compared to more visible or more serious ailments, like coughing and shortness of breath, many patients consider their dry mouth symptoms to be low priority or never bring them up with their doctor at all.