FAQ

That it is more contagious than the flu and SARS.

Influenza has an incubation period (i.e. the time that elapses from the entry of the virus into the body until the appearance of symptoms) 1-4 days, SIRS 2-7 while Covid 19 4-14 days, so a longer period that the patient as asymptomatic can and does transmit the disease.

Main symptoms are fever and cough in 60-70% dry, maybe shortness of breath, myalgias. Anosmia and tastelessness can be a common feature.
The clinical picture shows a wide variation from the mild form of the disease, which is the most common, to the severe form which can lead to death

• If the patient is under 65 years old, has no co-morbidities, has mild symptoms (not shortness of breath) and definitely less than 6-7 days, contact a doctor, preferably a Pulmonologist, simple monitoring and staying at home, following his instructions doctor.
• If the patient is over 65 years old and/or has co-morbidities, has mild symptoms (not shortness of breath) and less than 5 days, a laboratory test and other tests should be performed, under the guidance of a Pulmonologist, so that the treatment be proportional to the results.
• If he has shortness of breath, hypoxemia then refer to Hospital for admission.

• Patients over 65 years of age
• Patients with concomitant diseases, especially arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Patients with COPD and much less with asthma are not particularly vulnerable.
• Immunocompromised.

• Patients with severe asthma who are taking oral steroids or a biologic agent or who have 2 or more exacerbations per year.
• Patients with controlled bronchial asthma do not belong to vulnerable groups.

Smoking is the inhalation of the smoke from the burning of the leaves of the tobacco plant. Burning is usually done in a cigarette, cigar or in some other way.

According to the World Health Organization, smoking, i.e. nicotine addiction, has been officially classified as a disease. A disease that in the European Union is responsible for the death of approximately 650,000 active and approximately 80,000 passive smokers. In the 1920s, German scientists discovered that smoking is harmful to health, but the world community only gradually recognized the problem after 1950. In the following years, it was understood that smoking causes lung cancer , as well as other organs such as many other health problems.

Regarding Greece, according to the Eurobarometer, it holds three first places:
• One of the highest rates of smokers: around 40%
• The highest percentage of smokers in public places: about 60%
• One of the highest rates of passive smoking in a family environment: around 30%.

States have taken measures on smoking and depending on the country measures on the smoking habit may include:

• prohibition of advertising of tobacco products,
• banning smoking in public places, in order to avoid passive smoking ,
• mandatory labeling on tobacco products and others.

1. In the first seconds of inhalation, the smoke passes from the mouth to the pharynx and from there to the lungs, releasing ammonia, formaldehyde and other toxic substances, which automatically cause a small shock to the body (a big one for those who smoke for the first time). The immune system “perceives” an invasion, and as long as the cigarette lasts it will be on alert.
2. In the airways, smoke manages to slow down the activity of the cilia. Cilia are cytoplasmic projections that help the respiratory system to respond to mucus and particles that enter it. So the defense of the lungs is reduced. At the same speed and through the capillaries of the lungs, nicotine passes into the blood.
3. It’s the moment when the human body interprets the intrusion of smoke as a slap in the face of energy, it’s the same moment that nicotine stimulates the adrenal glands and causes bursts of adrenaline, raising blood pressure and heart rate. This is also the reason why a smoker is permanently at risk of a heart attack or a stroke.
4. After several puffs, enough carbon monoxide has already accumulated in the blood, reducing the body’s ability to send oxygen to the body’s organs.
5. Halfway through the cigarette, nicotine has already reached the brain, affecting a number of nerve cells, mainly those that release dopamine. This is the moment when the smoker feels euphoric, precisely because the hormone that is also known as the hormone of joy is secreted in his body.
6. Extinguishing the cigarette and after about 5-10 minutes, dopamine returns to its normal levels, only the brain asks for a repetition of pleasure. Cigarette addiction lurks right here. The more often the smoker gives in to his desire for some more dopamine, the more often he lights up a cigarette. Herein lies the degree of difficulty for those trying to quit smoking and having to deal with this desire of the brain that perceives deprivation and puts obstacles in the way of quitting.
7. As the years pass and smoking becomes a chronic habit, the effects are constantly increasing.
It has been proven that smoking causes at least 25 life threatening diseases of the smoker.
But the diseases that are mainly due to smoking are:
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) which in the initial stages may have no findings, but over the years it increasingly ‘destroys’ the patients’ quality of life, immobilizes them in the chair – next to oxygen bottles – and constantly drives them to hospitals .
• Cancer with lung cancer as the protagonist, but also of the mouth, larynx, uterus, bladder, stomach, pancreas.
• Coronary heart disease and vascular diseases in general (increased frequency of strokes) which can become life-threatening.
8. Smoking can also cause loss of smell and taste, impotence or serious problems in the smoker’s sex life as well as acceleration of physical aging (wrinkles, gray hair, memory loss).

About 3,000 deaths from lung cancer and 35,000 to 40,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease are attributed to secondhand smoke each year. Children whose parents smoke are more likely to suffer from asthma, pneumonia and bronchitis.

Quitting smoking, for the majority of smokers, is not easy and for many it is a lifelong problem. Today there are smoking cessation or addiction clinics operating where treatment is either supportive or pharmaceutical or a combination of the two. The clinic is aimed at all smokers who want to get rid of smoking and cannot do it alone.

Did you know that bronchial asthma:
• is one of the most common diseases of the respiratory system in which the lumen of the airways that carry air to the lungs for breathing narrows.
• The diagnosis of bronchial asthma is often easy and is based on the sudden onset of shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing and tightness in the chest.
But is it always bronchial asthma?
However, many different diseases can present similar symptoms.
How can the differential diagnosis be made?
Therefore, in addition to the clinical examination and the measurement of the respiratory function, for the correct diagnosis of bronchial asthma, it is also necessary to assess the inflammation of the airways. This allergic inflammation can be assessed by measuring exhaled nitric oxide, (FeNO), the levels of which are increased in patients with allergic bronchial asthma.

• Monitoring the symptoms of bronchial asthma is important, but the correct measurement of inflammation will also determine the correct treatment.
• The measurement of exhaled nitric oxide, (FeNO) immediately gives the answer to key questions such as:
*Which patients with vague or multiple respiratory symptoms have allergic inflammation?
*Is the bronchial asthma properly controlled with the treatment already received?
*Is it being overtreated when it could be controlled with lower doses of inhaled corticosteroids?
*Has there been a change in exposure to allergens?