1.You and COPD: An Introduction -- 1 -- What Is COPD? -- 1 -- Downward Spiral -- 3 -- Minimizing the Limitations -- 5 -- Some COPD Facts -- 5 -- How Serious Is COPD? -- 9 -- 2. Respiratory System: What It Is, How It Works, and What Goes Wrong in COPD -- 12 -- Our Breathing Machinery -- 13 -- What Controls Your Respiratory Muscles? -- 19 -- Microscopic Anatomy: The Acinus and Emphysema -- 20 -- Physical Properties of the Respiratory System -- 22 -- Breathing Is Work, Especially in COPD -- 25 -- What Controls the Airway Opening? -- 27 -- Gas Exchange -- 30 -- 3. COPD: The Damage, the Symptoms, the Progression -- 33 -- Evils of Tobacco -- 33 -- Emphysema -- 36 -- Chronic Bronchitis -- 39 -- COPD's Natural History -- 40 -- Modifying This Natural History -- 45 -- 4. Inherited Emphysema: Alpha[subscript 1]-Antitrypsin Deficiency -- 46 -- Dynamics of Disease -- 47 -- Screening -- 48 -- Treatment -- 49 -- Prognosis -- 50 -- 5. Seeking Help -- 52 -- Finding the Right Doctor -- 52 -- Who Is Responsible for What? -- 55 -- 6. How Do I know I Have COPD? -- 59 -- History Taking -- 60 -- Physical Examination -- 62 -- Laboratory Studies -- 64 -- Formal Diagnosis -- 75 -- 7. COPD and... -- 76 -- Cardiovascular Disease -- 76 -- Diabetes -- 80 -- Surgery -- 82 -- 8. Stop Smoking! -- 87 -- Cigarette Cycle: The Path to Addiction -- 89 -- Giving Up Cigarettes -- 89 -- One Ex-smoker's Story -- 100 -- Another Ex-smoker's Story -- 101 -- 9. Bronchodilators -- 104 -- History of Medication for Respiratory Diseases -- 105 -- Modern Medication -- 107 -- Drugs That Stimulate Beta-Receptors -- 108 -- Anticholinergic Drugs -- 114 -- Use and Care of Metered-Dose Inhalers -- 116 -- Theophylline -- 119 -- 10. Rest of the COPD Drugs -- 127 -- Corticosteroids -- 127 -- Antibiotics and Airway Infections -- 133 -- Antiviral Drugs and Airway Infections -- 136 -- Anticough Medication -- 137 -- Coping with Mucus -- 138 -- Experimental Emphysema Treatment -- 141 -- Stress and Anxiety Requiring Medication -- 142 -- 11. Complementary Therapies for COPD: Old Treatments Have New Life -- 145 -- Plant Advantage -- 148 -- Herbal Formulations -- 149 -- Coping with Mucus -- 150 -- Preventing Infection -- 151 -- Coping with Cough -- 153 -- Vitamins and Minerals for COPD -- 154 -- Miscellaneous Supplements -- 155 -- Anxiety -- 156 -- Depression -- 158 -- 12. Oxygen Therapy -- 161 -- Understanding Oxygen -- 162 -- Modern Use -- 164 -- Using Oxygen at Home -- 166 -- Oxygen Equipment for Home Use -- 167 -- 13. Physical Therapies for COPD -- 179 -- Goal Setting -- 179 -- Relaxation Techniques -- 180 -- Breathing Exercises -- 182 -- Postural Drainage -- 186 -- Relearning to Cough -- 189 -- Respiratory Muscle Strengthening -- 190 -- Physical Fitness -- 190 -- One Exerciser's Experience -- 199 -- Medicare Coverage -- 202 -- 14. Conquering the Emotional and Psychological Consequences of COPD -- 204 -- What Can You Do? -- 205 -- Neuropsychological Changes in COPD -- 205 -- Emotional Effects -- 206 -- Emotional Recovery -- 209 -- Group or Individual Psychotherapy -- 211 -- 15. Daily Living -- 214 -- Minimizing Airway Infections -- 214 -- Environment -- 216 -- Nutrition -- 221 -- Energy-Saving Strategies -- 225 -- How One Patient Manages -- 229 -- Improving Your Sleep -- 230 -- 16. Work and Play -- 232 -- Restoring Your Ability to Work for a Living -- 233 -- Initial Decision -- 235 -- What Am I Going to Be? -- 236 -- Putting It into Action -- 237 -- Impairment vs. Disability -- 237 -- Recreation -- 241 -- 17. COPD and Sex -- 242 -- COPD Often Produces Sexual Problems -- 242 -- How Do I Start? -- 243 -- Sex Is More Than Intercourse -- 243 -- Extending Your Limits -- 249 -- 18. COPD and Successful Travel -- 252 -- Your Medical Needs Away from Home -- 253 -- Where to Go; When to Travel -- 255 -- 19. Surgical Options -- 263 -- Lung Transplantation -- 263 -- Ideal Candidate -- 264 -- Transplant Procedure -- 265 -- Lung Volume Reduction Surgery -- 268 -- 20. Final Phase -- 282 -- When Will That Point Be? -- 282 -- Final Stage Care Is Moving from Hospital to Home -- 283 -- When Death Is Finally Imminent -- 285 -- Euthanasia -- 287 -- 21. Reflections: Taking the Measure -- 296 -- Medical Optimism -- 296 -- Economic Pressures Call the Shots in Health Care -- 297 -- How Can We Help Ourselves? -- 300 -- Drug Information -- 305.