How Exercise with Oxygen Therapy (EWOT) Can Help You With COPD?

Do you or your loved ones suffer from moderate to severe COPD, like 65 million people around the world? Experts expect that this figure will keep rising worldwide over the next 50 years.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a progressive lung condition that obstructs airflow and is characterized by shortness of breath, chest tightness, and breathing problems. The symptoms of COPD typically develop slowly but worsen over time and can affect your daily life.

Is COPD curable? No, COPD is currently incurable. However, it can be effectively managed with medications, oxygen therapy, exercise programs, and lifestyle changes. In addition to the conventional treatment approaches, Exercise with Oxygen Therapy (EWOT) serves as a promising complementary approach to alleviate the potential symptoms associated with COPD.

COPD- Types, Symptoms, and Risk Factors

The two types of COPD are:

Chronic Bronchitis: This condition is characterized by constant irritation and inflammation of the airway lining, causing it to thicken. This results in the production of thick mucus in the airways, making it difficult to breathe.

Emphysema: This condition develops when the walls between the air sacs in the lungs are damaged. These air sacs are typically elastic. When you inhale, each air sac gets filled with air, and when you exhale, these air sacs deflate, and air goes out of the body. However, when you have emphysema, your lungs can’t effectively move air out of your body.

The majority of those who have COPD have a mix of chronic bronchitis and emphysema in varying ratios, and the severity of the condition depends on each individual.

Initially, COPD may cause little to no symptoms or just mild ones that may not be noticed right away. As the condition progresses, symptoms typically become more noticeable and severe.

Now, let’s take a look at common COPD signs and symptoms:

• Persistent cough
• Wheezing
• Shortness of breath while doing daily activities
• Excessive sputum production
• Can’t breathe deep
• Fatigue

Here are the major risk factors for COPD:

• Age: 40+
• History of smoking
• Long-term exposure to irritants such as air pollution, dust, and chemical fumes
• Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency: a genetic disorder that increases the risk of lung and liver disease
• Or having a combination of any of the above factors

Do you know how lung irritants contribute to the development of COPD? Here’s how their exposure affects your lungs:

• Reduces elasticity of airways and alveoli in the lungs
• Induces inflammation and damage to the walls between your alveoli
• Stimulates excessive mucus production, obstructing the airways

How COPD Affects Your Oxygen Levels and Exercise Tolerance?

You already know oxygen is essential for your organs, cells, and tissues to function properly. But when you have COPD, things become a bit trickier. The damage to your lungs and airways makes it difficult for your body to take in sufficient oxygen. This means less oxygen gets transferred from your lungs into your bloodstream. This drop in oxygen levels in your blood is known as COPD hypoxemia. If it gets severe, it can cause COPD hypoxia, where your organs and tissues just don’t get the oxygen they need to function well.

If you have COPD, you know how daunting it can be to exercise and stay active. When your lungs are not functioning as they should, even small movements can make you feel fatigued and breathless. It’s frustrating when just walking around the house or going for a short stroll feels like a workout. This extra effort placed on your breathing muscles can make it harder for you to keep up with your daily activities. Over time, this can create a cycle: the less you move, the weaker your muscles get, which can worsen your symptoms. For COPD patients, breaking this vicious cycle is important for a better quality of life.

How does Oxygen Therapy help with COPD?

As you may already know, COPD is incurable. However, there are treatments for COPD that can relieve symptoms, prevent complications, and help slow the progression of the condition. The treatment options include smoking cessation and use of bronchodilators and inhaled/oral steroids.

Oxygen therapy is a well-known pulmonary rehabilitation option for COPD, especially if the oxygen level in your bloodstream is too low. Oxygen therapy is basically administering supplemental (extra) oxygen to your body to improve oxygenation and support better lung function.

Oxygen therapy can help people with COPD by

• Making it easier for them to do their daily tasks with fewer symptoms
• Improving sleep quality
• Supporting lung and heart health
• Improving quality of life
• Reducing the risk of complications such as heart strain and pulmonary hypertension
• Increasing overall life expectancy

Oxygen therapy can be administered for short or extended periods in a hospital or at home.

Understanding Exercise with Oxygen Therapy

Exercise with Oxygen Therapy, or EWOT in short, is the practice of inhaling higher oxygen concentrations while exercising. The goal is to flood your body with oxygen, resulting in increased oxygen utilization and improved physical performance.

Now you may ask, “What’s the difference between the traditional oxygen therapy and EWOT?” The conventional oxygen therapy is often administered during resting periods. On the other hand, EWOT combines the benefits of exercise and supplemental oxygen to push oxygen deeper into the tissues.

How EWOT Can Help Manage COPD Symptoms?

Exercise with Oxygen Therapy can benefit people with COPD by delivering a higher concentration of oxygen to the lungs, which is then absorbed into the bloodstream more efficiently. This increased oxygen supply makes it easier for COPD patients to breathe and keep up with physical activity.

If you have COPD, you will know how difficult it can be to catch your breath after walking, doing light activity, or even while just relaxing — and the same goes for the constant feeling of fatigue. By increasing the available oxygen during exercise, EWOT helps combat shortness of breath and fatigue.

Here’s how EWOT can be the best addition to your COPD action plan:

Increased Exercise Tolerance: The increased oxygen availability during the EWOT session reduces the strain on your lungs, letting you exercise more without feeling breathless and stay active.

Improved Oxygen Utilization: COPD makes it hard for your lungs to absorb and distribute enough oxygen. Engaging in EWOT helps improve your oxygen utilization, and this helps your cells adapt to higher oxygen levels over time for increased energy production.

Reduced Fatigue and Shortness of Breath: Always avoiding the activities you love due to debilitating fatigue and breathlessness? Worry not — EWOT can help you reduce these symptoms by supplying the muscles with sufficient oxygen they need. This minimizes the energy drain and alleviates the sensation of breathlessness. No more holding back from the activities you enjoy!

Better Lung Function Over Time: While it’s important to understand that EWOT doesn’t cure COPD, using it regularly can make a real but gradual difference in your lung function. Over time, your lungs get better at processing and using oxygen. This helps you breathe better.

Improved Cardiovascular Health: Did you know COPD affects not just your lungs but your heart as well? Research has shown that COPD increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases by 2 to 3 times. Low oxygen levels can put extra strain on your cardiovascular system. Simply put, your heart has to work harder to meet your body’s oxygen demand. This excessive load on the heart eventually causes congestive heart failure. EWOT reduces this extra load on your heart by improving blood flow and increasing the delivery of oxygen.

Before Getting Started

Yes, EWOT can help you in COPD management. Still, prior to incorporating EWOT into your daily routine, it’s important to follow some precautions and guidelines.

Get Your Physician’s Clearance: Consult your healthcare practitioner before starting EWOT or any other workout regimen to make sure it’s right for your health status and fitness level.

Find the Right EWOT System: It’s important to choose the EWOT system that aligns with your needs, preferences, and budget.

Listen to Your Body’s Signals: Always stay alert to your body’s cues during the EWOT session. If you experience any symptoms or flare-ups, stop the session immediately and seek medical attention.

Start with Shorter Sessions: Begin with shorter EWOT sessions of 7–8 minutes. Once your body adapts to the increased oxygen supply, you can gradually increase the duration. Avoid going beyond 15 minutes at a time to prevent overexertion.