Yes, Life’s Essential 8 can help with COPD.

While Life’s Essential 8 was created for heart health, it also helps with your overall health. A lot of the areas of Life’s Essential 8 can also help with managing COPD. Studies have shown that people with COPD who better keeping up with Life’s Essential 8 have better lung function. Life’s Essential 8 can help with the symptoms of COPD as well as making you feel better in your day-to-day life.

Trying to work on all of the parts of Life's Essential 8 can be overwhelming. It can be stressful to manage so many aspects of your health and lifestyle. But you don't need to tackle everything at once. There are small things that can help get you started. 

Smoking

One of Life’s Essential 8 is not smoking cigarettes. This is the single most important thing you can do to help with COPD. Smoking damages the lungs and speeds up the decline in lung function. Studies show that people who quit smoking, even after years of use, can slow the progression of COPD and reduce the risk of severe flare-ups. The earlier you quit, the more lung function you preserve. Therapy, counseling, nicotine replacements, and smoking medications can all help you get started with trying to quit smoking.

Exercise

Being physically active helps keep your muscles strong, improves your breathing, and lowers the chances of needing to go to the hospital. Any amount of movement helps, even gentle walking or stretching. Being active can also reduce anxiety and depression, which are common for people with COPD. Learn more about how to start being active if you have COPD. With little changes, you can see large improvements. If you have trouble breathing when you exercise, there are ways you can manage your breathing to help.

Sleep

A lot of people with COPD don’t sleep well. Sleep disorders like sleep apnea are also common in people with COPD. That can make fatigue and breathing issues worse. Improving your sleep can help improve your energy and overall quality of life. There are also some breathing exercise can help you relax and help with sleep issues.

Diet

Eating a healthy diet supports lung and muscle function. It can also help with staying a healthy weight. People with COPD who are underweight or who eat a poor diet can have worse symptoms and more frequent flare-ups. Here are some tips for eating healthy when you feel like you’re too busy or overwhelmed.

Other Chronic Conditions

Managing any other chronic conditions you might have, like high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol, helps with your overall health. Some medications for COPD can make it harder to keep these conditions under control. That makes is especially important to talk to your doctor about managing all of your chronic conditions.

Heart Health

People with COPD are at higher risk of getting heart problems. Keeping up with the different parts of Life’s Essential 8 can help improve your heart health. 

The parts of Life’s Essential 8 can help manage COPD and improve overall health. Managing these aspects of your health can help reduce symptoms, slow disease progression, and improve quality of life.

 

Keep your lung health great by following Life’s Essential 8!