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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Program
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Significa offers a program to help you manage Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
(COPD), a lung disease that affects millions of people. COPD includes diseases such
as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. About 24 million adults in the U.S. have evidence
of impaired lung function indicating that COPD is under-diagnosed. If you have COPD,
it is important for you to learn about your disease and how you can manage it.
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A person with COPD can have either emphysema or chronic bronchitis, but most have
both. Some people with COPD may also have "asthma-like" symptoms, such as wheezing.
Cigarette smoking is the most common cause of COPD. Most people with COPD are smokers
or former smokers. Breathing in other kinds of lung irritants, like pollution, dust
or chemicals over a long period of time may also cause or contribute to COPD.
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A Care Coordinator will help you manage your COPD while working toward the following
goals:
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- Relieving your symptoms with no or minimal side effects of treatment
- Slowing the progress of the disease
- Improving exercise tolerance (your ability to stay active)
- Preventing and treating complications and sudden onset of problems
- Improving your overall health
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COPD management includes:
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- Learning more about your COPD
- Leading a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise and diet
- Quitting smoking
- Avoiding infection
- Following medication therapy and oxygen therapy
- Retraining your breathing
- Learning techniques to bring up mucus
- Developing an action plan
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Improve the quality of your life by calling our COPD Management Program for education
and support. To enroll in the program, call a Care Coordinator toll-fee at 1-866-430-2551,
weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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For more information about our COPD Management Program, click here.
To check out the latest issue of the COPD Management newsletter, click here.
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