looking for the last stages of copd,before death
2006-11-06 07:03:27 · 2 answers · asked by jrnmorton 1 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Respiratory Diseases
Typically the last stages of COPD involve activity intolerance, ie the person cannot tolerate any activity without shortness of breath, or may experience shortness of breath at rest. They are oxygen dependent, lose their appetite as they cannot eat due to breathlessness, have weight loss, and experience frequent respiratory infections. If they are truly end-stage, they usually die from infection or complications due to heart disease or pneumonia. An option is hospice care, where no CPR or placement on a ventilator is used. The patient is supported with comfort care only and medications are used to ease breathlessness.
2006-11-06 07:09:53 · answer #1 · answered by stingme 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You literally drown as your lungs fill with fluid. You have air hunger because you are chronically short of oxygen even with it flowing directly into your lungs with tubing. Your body cannot pick it up anymore. You lapse into a coma when your brain can't sustain itself anymore on the small amount of oxygen it's getting and then you die.
2006-11-06 07:07:07 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋