13/03/2024
Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to develop heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer.1
Estimates show smoking increases the risk:
For coronary heart disease by 2 to 4 times1,6
For stroke by 2 to 4 times1
Of men developing lung cancer by 25 times1
Of women developing lung cancer by 25.7 times1
Smoking causes diminished overall health, increased absenteeism from work, and increased health care utilization and cost. Smokers are at greater risk for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular disease).1,2
Smoking causes stroke and coronary heart disease, which are among the leading causes of death around the world.
Even people who smoke fewer than five ci******es a day can have early signs of cardiovascular disease.
Smoking damages blood vessels and can make them thicken and grow narrower. This makes your heart beat faster and your blood pressure go up. Clots can also form.
The purpose of chest physiotherapy are:
To facilitate removal of retained or profuse airway secretions.
To optimize lung compliance and the ventilation-perfusion ratio/ improve gas exchange.
To decrease the work of breathing.
Improve exercise tolerance
Prevent secondary complications.
Respiratory physiotherapy is a core specialty within the physiotherapy profession and occupies a key role in the management and treatment of patients with respiratory diseases. It aims to unclog the patient’s airways and help them return to physical activity and exertion. The respiratory physiotherapist employs many diverse interventions, including pulmonary rehabilitation, early mobilisation, and airway clearance techniques, all having beneficial effects on the symptoms associated with respiratory diseases. For example improved sputum clearance and cough efficacy, reduced dyspnea, and improved physical fitness. The beneficial effects are demonstrated in improved functional ability and reduced intensive care and and hospital stay, with savings in associated health-care costs. Physiotherapists specialising in respiratory care work in a variety of settings including Intensive Care Units (ICUs), hospital wards, and primary care settings[1]
As well as “chest physiotherapy”, which includes the management of clients with excessive airway secretions, maximising oxygenation, improving lung volume, preserving musculoskeletal function.
