Why is COPD Balloon Treatment Applied?

The significant increase in cigarette consumption has led to the development of bronchoscopic intervention methods such as COPD Balloon Therapy, as lung cancer increases in men and women. Before the drastic increase in smoking, tuberculosis, known as “thin disease”, was one of the most serious lung diseases threatening humanity. The battle against tuberculosis by chest diseases specialists in the world and in our country gave positive results. But lung cancer, caused by smoking and inflammation, remained a serious threat to humanity. Today, COPD Balloon Therapy is used to cure lung cancer and COPD disease. Today, we will try to answer frequently asked questions about treatment.

What is COPD Balloon Therapy?

With the contribution of industrialization after the Second World War, tobacco cigarette has become a commercial product that triggers respiratory diseases. Likewise, chemicals used in different branches of industry have begun to seriously threaten the respiratory health of everyone in the world, although not as much as cigarette smoke. The rapidly developing process caught the doctors unprepared for the chemicals that cause inflammation and later COPD.

As a result of the fact that COPD disease and its types have become a serious problem for world health, the patent of COPD Balloon in 2006, Prof. Dr. It was bought by Yalçın Karakoca. The treatment, which has been applied to patients for 15 years, was awarded an award from the World Bronchology Congress held in Japan in 2008.

It has been demonstrated after studies that the COPD Balloon Inflation Therapy method, developed for the treatment of COPD, which is a progressive and chronic respiratory disease, is also a hope for patients who have not yet been diagnosed with lung cancer. However, COPD Balloon Therapy does not completely eliminate lung cancer; however, it can significantly reduce related deaths.

In the following sections, we will try to talk about the structure of the lung, COPD and other respiratory diseases, and finally how and how the treatment is effective.

In its simplest definition, COPD Balloon Therapy is the name given to the process of expanding the bronchi in the lung, which are blocked for various reasons, with a balloon covered with a mesh.

Why is COPD Balloon Therapy Applied?

In order to understand how the treatment process is effective, you must first have knowledge about the lungs and the factors that make the lung sick. The bronchi, small bronchi and alveoli in our lungs hold harmful particles in the inhaled air and allow them to be thrown out with a structure called mucus. However, heavy smoking over 20 years or other factors significantly increases the rate of harmful particles penetrating the lungs.

The increase in harmful particles causes the Goblet Cells to secrete more mucus in the bronchi in our lungs and the thickening of the bronchial walls. When the exposure continues, the mucosa increases significantly and causes the bronchi in the lung to completely lose their function. Harmful effect causes serious damage to the lung even if there is no subsequent exposure to cigarette smoke or harmful particulate matter. The developed COPD Balloon Therapy is a treatment applied to reduce the amount of mucus and Goblet Cells in the bronchi that are closed for various reasons.

Emphysema and chronic bronchitis, which are now referred to as COPD, are subtypes of COPD. Especially chronic bronchitis is the most dangerous type of recurrent and progressive COPD disease and there is a possibility of poor outcome in patients who develop recurrent pneumonia or lung cancer. Treatment is usually applied to patients with PETS, very severe asthma, chronic bronchitis and COPD.

Is COPD Balloon Therapy Applied Only to Smokers?

COPD Balloon Therapy, which is a hope for serious respiratory diseases, is applied for respiratory diseases caused by different reasons today. However, in most of them, COPD disease and chronic bronchitis, which are subtypes of COPD disease, have an important place. Studies have shown that depending on the risk of COPD, the risk of lung cancer also increases significantly. In summary, treatment is given to COPD patients who are at high risk of later developing pneumonia or developing lung cancer. Currently, the treatment does not cure lung cancer, but is also preferred to widen the bronchi covered by cancer cells and reduce the number of deaths. Likewise, treatment PETS is preferred for very severe asthma and patients.

The main function of the mucosa formed by our lungs is to keep harmful and foreign particles in the inhaled air and to expel them through sputum. Harmful particles can be formed as a result of burning tobacco or substances also known as biomass. Biomass is the name given to bio-based fuels such as manure, which release harmful particles when burned and are mostly preferred to obtain heat and warmth today. Like cigarette smoke, biomass smoke can produce substances that are hazardous to your lungs. These materials, which are used as fuel, especially in rural areas of our country, play an important role in respiratory complaints.

Cigarette smoke is in the first place in terms of risk and danger. The habit of smoking in childhood is effective in the emergence of COPD and its subtypes after long-term use. However, not only the duration of use, but also how the cigarette smoke is drawn is important. The most severe COPD patients are usually among those who have inhaled heavily for many years. In short, COPD Balloon Therapy can be applied not only to those who use cigarettes or tobacco products, but also to those who breathe gases containing harmful particles.

How is COPD Balloon Treatment Decided?

Many people with COPD can still complain of problems especially related to chronic bronchitis, even if they stay away from the triggers. On the other hand, there are degrees of COPD, which is caused by different factors, and only patients above certain degrees are treated.

It is decided with the doctor on the basis of a medical data called FEV1 whether the treatment will be applied or not. The FEV1 value is the rate of flow a person exhales in 1 second. We mentioned earlier that mucus in the lungs traps harmful particles. An FEV1 value of 80% and above indicates a healthy lung. However, if this value is 50% or less, COPD Balloon Therapy may be needed. A decrease in FEV1 below 30% indicates very severe COPD disease and a lung transplant may be necessary. Balloon therapy for the lungs, on the other hand, is seen as an alternative to lung transplantation. More precisely, it can be said that lung transplantation is among the bridge treatments.

How is COPD Balloon Therapy Applied?

Choosing the emblem of the Turkish Thoracic Society, founded in 1993 by Hacettepe chest diseases department head Izzettin Barış, Prof. Dr. In the method developed by Yalçın Karakoca, under general anesthesia, the micro-balloon covered with a kind of mesh reaches the brooches in the lungs through the mouth. The inflating and descending balloon provides physical destruction of the Goblet Cells in the bronchi. However, scraping is performed during COPD Balloon Therapy surgery, and COPD Balloon Therapy is completed in two stages.