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[Del Boy]

In August 2008 my dad had a heart attack supposedly due to smoking, but he had blocked arteries they then put in five stents to unblock the arteries, which obviously has cured his heart problem. Ever since though he has had a reduction in his breathing, numerous tests have been done, turns out he has COPD come emphysema, the weird bit of it is, why all of this has come on so quick because obviously it can't be cured. Anything he does now causes shortness of breath, whether it be going up the school to pick up the grand children to putting his socks on, was never ever short of breath before the attack and he hasn't had a cigarette since the day of the attack.

I can understand him losing his breath gradually, but this seems to have come on all of a sudden, and he hasn't had a single fag since (repeating myself I know, but getting him to tell me the issues  ). Obviously there is no cure to COPD and would anyone know why it would've come on so quickly?

Cheers people 

[Richie London]

iv'e noticed my mother has started to slow down a bit now since her heart attack in may also, she hasnt had a cigarette since the attack either. same thing blocked arteries and too many pills to take, she never knows if she has taken them or not. is it possible your dad is in the same situation, is he taking all his tablets at the right time??

[PhilRich]

Normally Dell,  Shortly after people with COPD give up smoking, their breathlessness & coughing symptoms become more pronounced. This is due to the lining of the airways 'coming back to life' and trying to get rid of the build up of debris. This causes an increase in mucous which the lungs generate to trap the particles of tar etc so that they can be removed by coughing. It normally settles down fairly quickly and breathing improves to a lesser or greater degree, depending on the severity of the illness. If it's been a few years since your dad stopped smoking then I would think this stage was reached a long time ago, and the reason he is now having difficulty is sadly,just the natural progression of the disease. Although incurable, COPD can be alleviated by Steroids and/or a dedicated Oxygen supply. His Doctor/Specialist would be the person to approach about relieving his symptoms IMHO.
Give the Old Chap my Best Wishes, Del & I hope things improve for him & you too

[Brikhead]

In August 2008 my dad had a heart attack supposedly due to smoking, but he had blocked arteries ...

Smoking contributes to blocked arteries.
And the lung disease wouldn't have come on suddenly... it will have been building up over a lifetime.

Don't wish to sound harsh, and all the best to your Dad...

I'm off to find my Rizla!

[cem_devecioglu]

my father suffers the same breathing problem..

doctors say he has to use pacemaker.. and he rejected

problem is hearts after having heart attack, cant utilize its muscles in paralel and in ryhtm so blood flow
is disturbed and cant carry enough oxygen to body..
also mitral valve causes some of the blood to go back to lungs which makes the picture worse..

this much I understand from their explanation
they say regular daily short walking will help..

[Del Boy]

Normally Dell,  Shortly after people with COPD give up smoking, their breathlessness & coughing symptoms become more pronounced. This is due to the lining of the airways 'coming back to life' and trying to get rid of the build up of debris. This causes an increase in mucous which the lungs generate to trap the particles of tar etc so that they can be removed by coughing. It normally settles down fairly quickly and breathing improves to a lesser or greater degree, depending on the severity of the illness. If it's been a few years since your dad stopped smoking then I would think this stage was reached a long time ago, and the reason he is now having difficulty is sadly,just the natural progression of the disease. Although incurable, COPD can be alleviated by Steroids and/or a dedicated Oxygen supply. His Doctor/Specialist would be the person to approach about relieving his symptoms IMHO.
Give the Old Chap my Best Wishes, Del & I hope things improve for him & you too

Thanks Phil that's a big help. Thing is though progession of the disease I would've thought would be gradual, yes/no, I'm not sure on the answer? But this isn't natural progession, it's got worse a lot quickly rather than gradually, he's not extortionatly old either, 64 yesterday. His weight is going up too, and is now sitting at a level where he is overweight, whatever he does he can't get his weight down either, daily walk he does too. Used to be quite a fit old fella.

Richie, yes mate plenty of pills to take.

Cem that's an interesting read, and makes a lot of sense, althougb I don't see what a pacemaker could do?

[PhilRich]

Normally Dell,  Shortly after people with COPD give up smoking, their breathlessness & coughing symptoms become more pronounced. This is due to the lining of the airways 'coming back to life' and trying to get rid of the build up of debris. This causes an increase in mucous which the lungs generate to trap the particles of tar etc so that they can be removed by coughing. It normally settles down fairly quickly and breathing improves to a lesser or greater degree, depending on the severity of the illness. If it's been a few years since your dad stopped smoking then I would think this stage was reached a long time ago, and the reason he is now having difficulty is sadly,just the natural progression of the disease. Although incurable, COPD can be alleviated by Steroids and/or a dedicated Oxygen supply. His Doctor/Specialist would be the person to approach about relieving his symptoms IMHO.
Give the Old Chap my Best Wishes, Del & I hope things improve for him & you too

Thanks Phil that's a big help. Thing is though progession of the disease I would've thought would be gradual, yes/no, I'm not sure on the answer? But this isn't natural progession, it's got worse a lot quickly rather than gradually, he's not extortionatly old either, 64 yesterday. His weight is going up too, and is now sitting at a level where he is overweight, whatever he does he can't get his weight down either, daily walk he does too. Used to be quite a fit old fella.

Richie, yes mate plenty of pills to take.

Cem that's an interesting read, and makes a lot of sense, althougb I don't see what a pacemaker could do?

Del, i'm afraid it's 'The nature of the beast' where lung diseases are concerned, they can degenerate very quickly. There may be a clue in that he has put on weight. The extra body mass will be constricting his lungs, especially when bending or sitting down, and unfortunately also when he is lying flat in bed too as his lungs will be compressed by his heart which will be slightly enlarged now because of the extra work it has to do supplying enough oxygen to the body, coupled with the attack scar tissue. It is unlikely he will be able to do enough exercise to lose weight that way, but a reduced calorie diet and/or medication may help but ONLY after advice from his Doctor.

[cem_devecioglu]

Normally Dell,  Shortly after people with COPD give up smoking, their breathlessness & coughing symptoms become more pronounced. This is due to the lining of the airways 'coming back to life' and trying to get rid of the build up of debris. This causes an increase in mucous which the lungs generate to trap the particles of tar etc so that they can be removed by coughing. It normally settles down fairly quickly and breathing improves to a lesser or greater degree, depending on the severity of the illness. If it's been a few years since your dad stopped smoking then I would think this stage was reached a long time ago, and the reason he is now having difficulty is sadly,just the natural progression of the disease. Although incurable, COPD can be alleviated by Steroids and/or a dedicated Oxygen supply. His Doctor/Specialist would be the person to approach about relieving his symptoms IMHO.
Give the Old Chap my Best Wishes, Del & I hope things improve for him & you too

Thanks Phil that's a big help. Thing is though progession of the disease I would've thought would be gradual, yes/no, I'm not sure on the answer? But this isn't natural progession, it's got worse a lot quickly rather than gradually, he's not extortionatly old either, 64 yesterday. His weight is going up too, and is now sitting at a level where he is overweight, whatever he does he can't get his weight down either, daily walk he does too. Used to be quite a fit old fella.

Richie, yes mate plenty of pills to take.

Cem that's an interesting read, and makes a lot of sense, althougb I don't see what a pacemaker could do?

modern pacemakers have many abilities as far as I read.. they sense the voltage and the heart systols and in case they see any difference or problem they apply voltage immediately so heart can beat stronger
and in rythm.. in some papers (research doctors wrote)  I read, they say that many of the patients breathing problem become better..

[pscocoa]

My father is nearly 90 and smokes about 6 to 10 cigars a day and drinks his guinness.

In Feb he had a heart attack after breathing difficulties and was very weak and with a blood clot in his arm was not expected to live but survived the operation. The breathing problem was severe due to the water retention and this has now been brought under control via drugs although there have been issues needing paramedic call out.

Touch wood he has been stable for a few months now but still smoking the same - he is taking the view that it is something he enjoys - he stilll walks up and down the street with a trolley.

To get the breathing back to normal meant hospitalisation but doctors have never instructed him to stop smoking and presumably they do not see the link. He was very bloated with the water issue - that is the real pressure on the breathing.

[Jimbob]

My father in law also had shortness of breath following a heart attack.

Purely because of the drugs he was taking afterwards.

there are a variety of possible drugs, all with different side effects, as far as I know, its a case of getting the right balance for you.  With a bit of luck it will be as simple as changing medication.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Once you have a heart attack there is no fix.

Stents, bypasses etc help the blood flow to the muscle but, the muscle is damaged forever, will not recover, and over time continues to deteriorate.

Now dependent on how much damage occurred, you can often get some issues with blood pressure and heart valve efficiency and this can cause fluid build up on the chest.....not going to be helped by the other condition.

So the question is, hows his diet and drinking habits, have they put him on any form of diuretics (which slowly buggers the kidneys sadly), is his warpharn or aspirin levels correct (difficult to get right and takes a lot of monitoring).

Loads of questions!

Been through all this with the father in law.

[cem_devecioglu]

Once you have a heart attack there is no fix.

Stents, bypasses etc help the blood flow to the muscle but, the muscle is damaged forever, will not recover, and over time continues to deteriorate.
Now dependent on how much damage occurred, you can often get some issues with blood pressure and heart valve efficiency and this can cause fluid build up on the chest.....not going to be helped by the other condition.

So the question is, hows his diet and drinking habits, have they put him on any form of diuretics (which slowly buggers the kidneys sadly), is his warpharn or aspirin levels correct (difficult to get right and takes a lot of monitoring).

Loads of questions!

Been through all this with the father in law.

yep.. all correct..

and about smoking if a person can survive up to 90 with cigars I can bet he can live up to 110-120 if he never smoke..


I know from myself as I do smoke.. even if you are lucky and dont hit the evil of cancer still it will damage most of your organs heart, kidneys, stomach, intestine etc .. not only lungs..