COPD For Dummies [Paperback]

Kevin Felner MD (Author), Meg Schneider (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 2008

Make your home COPD friendly

Your reassuring guide to understanding and managing COPD
and getting on with your life

Want to know more about COPD? This straightforward guide provides clear information about this progressive disease, explaining how to recognize the warning signs, get diagnosed, and choose the best treatment. You'll see how diet, exercise, and medication affect your symptoms and make your life easier.

Discover how to:

• Know your risk factors
• Find the right doctors
• Quit smoking, start exercising, and change your diet
• Improve your overall health
• Prepare for emergencies
• Help loved ones with COPD

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Make your home COPD friendly

Your reassuring guide to understanding and managing COPD and getting on with your life

Want to know more about COPD? This straightforward guide provides clear information about this progressive disease, explaining how to recognize the warning signs, get diagnosed, and choose the best treatment. You'll see how diet, exercise, and medication affect your symptoms and make your life easier.

Discover how to:

• Know your risk factors

• Find the right doctors

• Quit smoking, start exercising, and change your diet

• Improve your overall health

• Prepare for emergencies

• Help loved ones with COPD

About the Author

Kevin Felner, MD: Kevin Felner, MD, an assistant professor at New York University School of Medicine in New York City, is an expert in pulmonary and critical care medicine. He served a three-year fellowship at New York University Medical Center in pulmonary/critical care medicine and has taught medical students in his specialty (Department of Internal Medicine/Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care) since 2004. He has earned three Teacher of the Year awards during his tenure at NYU, including being named best teacher of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care in 2005.
Before joining the NYU teaching staff, he taught at UT Southwestern Medical School and Mount Sinai Medical School, where he participated in pilot programs introducing first- and second-year medical students to effective patient interaction.
His research on lung and respiratory illnesses has been presented to the American Thoracic Society and published in journals such as the International Journal of Surgical Pathology.

Meg Schneider: Meg Schneider is an award-winning writer with more than two decades of experience in television, radio, and print journalism and public relations. Meg has authored or coauthored several books, including The Birth Order Effect for Couples (Fair Winds Press) and The Good-For-You Marriage (Adams Media). Her other book credits include two books for writers and one on casino gambling.
Meg’s journalism honors include awards from the Iowa Associated Press Managing Editors, Women in Communications, the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association, Gannett, the New York State Associated Press, and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 338 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (May 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470247576
• ISBN-13: 978-0470247570
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #260,374 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Respiratory

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful easy to read book, September 9, 2008

By 

sbs "Mullet" (NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: COPD For Dummies (Paperback)

This book is very helpful in understanding what COPD is and especially in understanding what the test numbers mean. The more you know about a disease the easier it is to manage it. Doctors don't always have time to explain things in detail. I was able to ask better questions at my next appointment.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great tool, November 24, 2009

By 

Tiffanie L. Young "Tiffanie RRT" (Astoria Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: COPD For Dummies (Paperback)

I am a health care professional. I bought this book to assist me in leading a support group for those with Chronic Lung Disease. This book helps to explain many of the intricate details of the conditions in terms that are easy to understand and follow. It also offers a great variety of info on how to cope and live a better life with Lung disease....

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, basic information about COPD, May 11, 2010

By 

Jean Rommes (W. Des Moines, IA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: COPD For Dummies (Paperback)

This is a good, basic introduction to COPD, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. The chapters on the disease progression and the physical changes in the breathing apparatus are well illustrated and described, as are the chapters on medications. There is a good emphasis on life-style changes necessary to improve quality of life for COPDers. The only mistake I found was a common one: the author states in the chapter on exercise that if you're not able to talk and walk at the same time, you're going too hard and fast. That's simply not true for people with COPD,with the possible exception of those in the mild or very beginning stages of the disease. My lung function is about a third that of someone my age without lung disease and I know if I can walk and talk (much) I'm not working hard enough to keep my lungs in the very best shape they can be. The outing may be socially rewarding, but I'm not getting much benefit from it as exercise and if that's all I did, I would not gain functional benefit at all. The reason to exercise in the first place is so that we can enjoy a stroll through the mall with our friends or a day at the zoo with our grandchildren. Other than that, the book is a good introduction to COPD using the "small bites" approach that is the trademark of the "Dummies" books. I would recommend it for patients, caregivers and family members.