As a child with moderate to severe asthma, I know firsthand how scary it is when you cannot breathe. Multiple times I remember waking up in the middle of the night, unable to breathe, frantically looking for my inhaler.

Being unable to breathe, or breathe well enough, is one of the scariest things a patient or family member can witness, yet all too often this scenario has become “an accepted reality” for too many patients. At Your Personal Pharmacy, we have combined our professional understanding of cutting-edge pulmonary medications and firsthand experiences to educate, optimize, and improve the lives of our pulmonary disease patients.

Pulmonary disease refers to a group of disorders affecting the lungs and respiratory system. This disease is crucial to recognize because it impacts millions, making everyday activities like exercise difficult. Pulmonary disease also tends to be progressive in nature, which means that unless the patient is receiving fully optimized treatment, there is a strong probability of impaired breathing function worsening with time.

The term “pulmonary disease” covers a broad spectrum of conditions, adding to its complexity. Some examples
are as follows:

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one common type, resulting from long-term exposure to harmful pollutants, often from smoking.
• Asthma, another type, leads to inflamed airways that can spasm and constrict, making it hard to breathe.
• There are also conditions like pulmonary fibrosis, where lung tissue becomes scarred and stiff.
• While some factors, like genetics, can predispose someone to these diseases, environmental factors, such as air quality, play a significant role too.