Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Including Emphysema

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a group of chronic Lung diseases that obstruct airflow and cause difficulty breathing.
Emphysema and chronic Bronchitis are the 2 most common causes.
Symptoms
Shortness of breath, wheezing, chronic cough, breathless on exertion. Severe cases will have cyanosis of the lips, face and fingernails due to low blood oxygen.
Causes
Damage to the Lungs from chronic Inflammation is a common cause. Excess smoking and exposure to other harmful chemical vapors or smoke are major causative factors. Chronic Lung diseases like Asthma can devlop into COPD. There is also a genetic link in some cases.
In traditional medicine, a primary cause is Phlegm. Phlegm obstructs the alveoli of the Lungs leading to poor lung function. Because of the fine capillary circulation required to the mucosa, chronic conditions often have blood stasis requiring medicines to resolve stasis.
Treatment
Traditional Herbal medicine will generally use medicines from one of several groups depending on diagnosis::

1. Phlegm-Damp-clearing–Radish seed, Mustard seed, Pepper, Ginger, Turbith, Agaric, Fritillaria Bei Mu, Poria Fu Ling, Pinellia Ban Xia
2. Lung strengthening–Licorice, Mastic, Sweet Almond, Raisin, Date, Asparagus root, Astragalus, Ginseng, Cordyceps, Fox Lung Powder
3. Stops Cough and Wheezing–Thyme, Coltsfoot, Bitter Almond, Ephedra, Platycodon Jie Geng
4. Blood-moving–Saffron, Myrrh, Bitter Almond (or Peach) kernel, Salvia Dan Shen

In chronic cases, the blood supply to the alveoli may also be obstructed requiring Blood-moving herbs in addition to mucolytics and expectorants.
Cupping, Bloodletting, applying oil or plasters over the chest and upper back, steam inhalations, yoga and breathing exercises can all be helpful.
Diet
Warms foods with herbs and spices such as Thyme, Basil, Ginger, Garlic, Radish and spices in general. Warm drinks such as Ginger tea, Green Tea, Raisin or Date tea can be taken throughout the day. A Radish and Ginger Soup can help resolve thick phlegm.
Foods to be avoided include Sweets, Dairy, coconut oil, fermented and sour foods, cold drinks and raw foods in general. A gluten-free diet may be beneficial in some cases.

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See also
Breathlessness, Difficulty Breathing
Asthma.

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Formulas
Fox Lung powder
Pectoral Decoction (Augustana)
Anti-Asthmatic Syrup
Syrup of Coltsfoot
Syrup of Horehound (Fernel)
Lohoch of Fox Lungs (Mesue)
Lohoch of Pine kernels (Mesue)
Electuary of Orris Root (Diaireos Salomonis) (Nicholas)
Compound Powder of Aniseed (Dianisum) (Mesue)
Elixir Salutis, Elixir of Health
Sitopaladi Powder (Ayurveda)
Raisin 7 (Tibetan)

Chinese Classification
Simples

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Formulas
Bu Fei Tang
Di Dan Tang
Gua Lou Xie Bai Jiu Tang
Gun Tan Wan
Xiang Sha Liu Jun Zi Tang