For oxygen therapy patients, there was a time when many faced using bulky, cumbersome, and inconvenient oxygen tanks, bottles, and liquid oxygen. These items needed to be refilled regularly.

As a result, the patient's ability to be out and about was limited.

Portable oxygen concentrators (POCs) have brought these patients a wide range of benefits, improving their quality of life and increasing their ability to enjoy new activities that they might not have otherwise experienced.

It is a known fact that portable oxygen concentrators (POCs) improve the lives of oxygen therapy patients. They enable these patients to have active lifestyles that include activities such as gardening, fishing, golfing, and hunting.

The body cannot store oxygen. It needs to be given when it is at low levels due to the side effects these levels can cause.

For patients such as those who suffer from COPD, they need frequent oxygen. This need is known as long term oxygen therapy, and patients will need some type of device to help with this.

For oxygen therapy patients who have been on other types of therapy like liquid oxygen or oxygen tanks, they may want to try out a portable oxygen concentrator for its ease of use, obvious portability, and if it actually works for them over the tanks. On the other hand, they may want to lead a more active lifestyle or do some traveling, but the tanks have prevented them from doing so due to their cumbersome nature.

Many patients have been diagnosed with respiratory diseases that require specialized treatment. These treatments most often come in the form of oxygen therapy.

For anyone who has been a patient in the hospital, they will be familiar with a nurse or respiratory therapist placing a clip-like device on a finger or earlobe. This small medical device is known as a pulse oximeter and it is used to measure the patient's oxygen saturation (SpO2) levels and pulse rate. It monitors the percentage of hemoglobin -- the protein in the blood -- that is oxygen saturated.

Today's oxygen therapy patients need to decide what kind of oxygen concentrator is best for them based on their individual needs and lifestyles. To help them, they should look to a respiratory specialist who can advise them on the available models to suit their oxygen requirements.

Long term, constant cigarette use is the leading cause for lung disease's such as COPD. Smoking cigarettes releases 7,000 chemical compounds into your body as well as innocent bi-standards that are in the general vicinity of the cigarette smoke. Many of those 7,000 toxic chemicals are carcinogens, which are better known as cancer causing agents. Second hand smoke is just as if not more dangerous than first hand smoke, second hand smoke has been linked as a cause for lung cancer.

When you made the decision to purchase a portable oxygen concentrator, like the eQuinox portable, you didn't just purchase a medical device, you made an investment. You invested in a medical device that grants you freedoms that other oxygen delivery systems don't offer. You invested in a piece of equipment that helps you regain your quality of life. With that being said, there may come a time where your disease progresses and you need a higher flow rate, your machine becomes old and you want a new one, or worst case scenario, you have a loved one who passed away and no longer need their portable oxygen machine. How can you get a return investment on that portable oxygen concentrator?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, means there is damage to the lungs that will not heal, but taking steps to prevent further problems is a key part of managing the disease.

Education and preventative care allow people to live quality lives despite their COPD symptoms. The first step is learning to recognize signs that COPD worsening.