Lung disease can sneak up

Some people may no longer be able to walk up the stairs without getting short of breath. They may think age is catching up. But the cause may be something else for those who have been exposed to harmful inhalants at their jobs.

Being exposed to toxic pollutants on a regular basis can cause lung damage that may not be detected until the disease has advanced, said Judie McGinnis, director of Yuma Regional Medical Center cardiopulmonary services.

Lung disease is a disease that "kind of sneaks up on you," she said.

Although stricter regulations and new laws now protect workers from exposure, those who have worked amid pollutants before the rules were established are seeing the repercussions, she said.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a chronic lung disease in which breathing becomes slowed or forced, is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, said Patti Allen, clinical specialist at YRMC respiratory care.

And it's making its way to third place, she said.

"I think that's part of the reason why. It's because ... you think you can smoke for years or be in an occupation for years that's damaging you but don't notice anything until it is right in you face," McGinnis said.

Harmful inhalants change the structure of the lung tissue, and whether the lung damage is obstructive or restrictive, it complicates breathing.

"If it's restrictive disease then (the tissue) gets harder, it's harder to take a breath. If it's COPD it makes the tissue floppy and it's hard for them to get rid of all of the air," McGinnis explained.

High-risk occupations in the Yuma area are those jobs in agriculture, casinos, bars, construction, roofing and cosmetology.

But by far, the largest number of cases McGinnis sees are smoking-related, mostly COPD, which include people who worked in places where they breathed in secondhand smoke for long periods of time.

"They may not be smokers but they're the ones inhaling it during entire shifts," she said.

Breathing problems don't always present themselves early on, McGinnis said. Workers think that pollutants are not affecting them because they're young and their lungs are in pretty good shape.

But the truth is, "after years of exposure to them, they're going to end up with problems," McGinnis said.

One of the first symptoms people may see is shortness of breath, which may be attributed to aging or being out of shape, Allen said.

"The problem with that is that by the time they really start to feel short of breath, that's when you actually have quite a bit of lung damage already," McGinnis said.

Other symptoms include chronic cough and production of mucus.

The best way to catch the disease at an early stage is to do a pulmonary function screening, which can detect damage before any symptoms show up.

"You can't totally reverse it, but there's treatment," McGinnis said.

Treatment medications to relieve symptoms include bronchodilators, inhalators and steroids.

"When your lungs are exposed chronically to irritants, they get inflamed, swollen inside, and that's one of the reasons it makes it hard to breathe. ... so steroids reduce that inflammation," Allen said.

Treatments should be accompanied by exercise and limiting exposure.

"It's no different than any other part of your body. If you exercise, it actually helps the lungs as well as anything else. Have a good program going on and try to minimize exposure to those things," McGinnis said.