• Give your own definition of COPD:  it is a combination of lung diseases that prevent airflow resulting in difficulty breathing. Most common conditions that make up COPD are: bronchial asthma, emphysema & chronic bronchitis. These conditions limit pulmonary airflow & gas exchange & can therefore lower life quality by causing sleeping disorders, reducing the ability to perform physical activity. Damage to the lungs from COPD can't be revered.
• Briefly describe the proposed aetiology & pathophysiology of chronic bronchitis & emphysema:

Chronic bronchitis : Is a non-specific obstructive airway disease which the exact aetiology is unclear, characterized by reduced mucus secertion & mucosal clealance, but which is associated with long-term exposure to irritants e.g. cigarette smoke, dust & irritating gases. Chronic bronchitis is due to hypersecretion of mucus, causing chronic cough due to sticky phlegm, an overactive parasympathetic nervous system plays an important role in chronic bronchitis.

Emphysema: Comprises a non-reversible dilation of the respiratory bronchiole & alveoli as a result of structural damage to the walls. The air is, therefore, caught in the respiratory space of the lungs & is exhaled with difficulty, disrupting ventilation of the lungs. It is generally continuous exposure to irritant that damage your lungs & airway.Due to this reason the lungs are being deprived of continuous flow of oxygen therefore causing deeper breathing, leading to SOB.

• Which type of therapy are included in the treatment of a COPD patient? :  Stop smoking, hypoxia (oxygen inhalation), poor lung capacity(regular exercise), airway obstruction ( bronchodilation), surgery( lung transplant) & bacterial infection ( antibiotic against influenza).

• Why is ipratropium more effective in the treatment of chronic bronchitis than in the treatment of bronchial asthma? : Ipratropium is a muscarinic Ach receptor antagonist which prevents the function of the PNS. The function includes: the production of bronchial secretion as well as constriction. With COPD the bronchodilatory effect is usually better than what is achieved with beta2-sympathomimetics. This can be understood, especially in the light of the role  of the PNS in chronic bronchitis, as discussed above.

• In which way do the skeletal muscle effects of theophylline have advantage in the treatment of COPD: Theophylline has the special advantage that it improves diaphragm contractility & reduces diaphragm exhaustion, improves cardiac contractility, lowers pulmonal resistance, improve muscociliary clearance & improves the ventilatory response.

•  What is the role of oxygen therapy in COPD? : Increases the amount of oxygen that flows into your lungs & bloodstream & as a result this improves breathing,