This Easter, I found myself at home with nothing special planned. No ham in the oven, no table set, no small ritual to mark the day. Just a quiet house and a long afternoon. And somewhere in that stillness, I realized I’d let chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) shrink…
Discussion
I was on one of my “let’s see where this road goes” adventures, the kind with those blind curves you don’t see until you’re already in them, when I noticed something unsettling. My portable oxygen concentrator (POC) wasn’t giving me oxygen with every breath. It wasn’t a dramatic failure, just…
The experimental therapy tozorakimab from AstraZeneca was superior to a placebo at reducing the rate of moderate to severe exacerbations, or sudden episodes of symptom worsening, in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). That’s according to top-line, one-year data from two Phase 3 clinical trials —…
Discussion
There are times in life when illness doesn’t just slow you down— it rearranges you. I didn’t see it happening at first. I thought I was simply tired or behind, in need of a weekend to catch up. But slowly, almost quietly, I began to lose the version of myself…
Discussion
There are days when I realize my world has grown smaller without my permission. After illness, the boundaries of daily life contract almost imperceptibly. A trip that once felt routine — like driving to Tamarack, West Virginia, a place I’ve known for years — suddenly feels foreign, as…
Discussion
When I was in my 20s, I was diagnosed with cancer over a phone call. What a way to practice medicine, but I felt something I didn’t expect: relief. Not because the diagnosis was easy — it wasn’t — but because the not‑knowing had been worse. The fear lived in…
COPD is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lungs, in which the airways become blocked, causing cough with mucus, wheezing, and shortness of breath.
The causes of COPD are not fully understood. However, long-term exposure to lung irritants is known to damage the lungs and the airways.
Some people may also experience exacerbations, or episodes of sudden disease worsening, that may persist for several days.
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