This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Hi, everyone. Dr Chandrasekaran here, and today I am going to talk to you about COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and heat.
These summer months are absolutely brutal when you’re outside, not only for us but even more for our patients with COPD.
Heat can cause humidity, and this can cause dehydration within our airways. This makes the mucus in the airways thicker, which can then be harder to expel oxygen and get in oxygen for our patients with COPD.
During times of heat and humidity, our body has to work two times harder to bring our temperature to normal. In order for our body to do any type of work, it needs oxygen. This is one of the problems that patients with COPD face.
In addition, the warmth can actually trigger inflammation within the airways, and this, again, can make it more difficult for our patients with COPD to breathe.
It’s important to counsel them to stay indoors, wear loose clothing, use oxygen when needed, and check their pulse ox more frequently.
If they are feeling more short of breath, have more wheezing than normal, or are having a difficult time with sputum production in terms of bringing it up or expectorating it, it’s very important that they do get checked out, as many COPD exacerbations can happen, especially in the summertime.