| What does COPD mean? COPD stands for Chronic | | | | cough up phlegm. The cough usually comes and goes |
| Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It encompasses two | | | | initially but tends to become persistent as time |
| types of disease processes namely chronic bronchitis | | | | passes. Breathlessness is usually intermittent and only |
| and emphysema. Quite often, people who suffer | | | | occurs with exertion in the beginning, however if you |
| from COPD show a combination of features of both | | | | continue to smoke, the breathlessness persists even |
| disease processes. In lay person's term, COPD means | | | | when you are at rest, this can be quite distressing! |
| persistent lung disease with features of airway | | | | Other symptoms are chronic sputum production, |
| narrowing. To be more specific, bronchitis means | | | | where you constantly cough up phlegm all day and |
| inflammation of the bronchi or the larger airways of | | | | recurrent chest infection. People with COPD are more |
| the lungs whereas emphysema means destruction to | | | | prone to chest infection for obvious reasons, as the |
| the smaller airways and alveoli or airsacs of the lungs. | | | | lining in the lung looses its normal defense mechanism |
| Thus COPD is commonly used to describe chronic | | | | against intruding bugs. |
| bronchitis, emphysema, or both. | | | | COPD sounds like asthma, are they any different? |
| Is COPD a common condition? It is one of the | | | | Yes. Both COPD and asthma cause similar symptoms, |
| commonest conditions that require hospital admission | | | | however, they are different in certain ways. COPD |
| during period of flare-ups. According to one | | | | causes permanent damage to the airways. The |
| epidemiology study in the US, approximately eight | | | | obstruction is 'fixed', hence it is irreversible in general |
| million people have chronic bronchitis whereas 2 million | | | | terms. However, airway narrowing in asthma is |
| people have emphysema. As we can see, chronic | | | | intermittent and reverses quite easily with medication. |
| bronchitis is more common than emphysema. | | | | Having said that, both COPD and asthma is common, |
| What are the causes of COPD? Smoking. Smoking is | | | | people who suffer COPD can have an asthmatic |
| the number 1 cause of COPD. More than 90 percent | | | | component and vice versa. |
| of COPDs are caused by smoking, cigarette or | | | | What tests are needed to diagnose COPD? A test |
| otherwise. About 30 percent of long term smokers | | | | called spirometry is often performed to diagnose |
| will eventually show symptoms of COPD of varying | | | | COPD. Bronchodilators (drugs that cause the airway |
| degrees. Other causes include air pollution and | | | | to dilate) are usually added to confirm the diagnosis. |
| inherited enzyme deficiency namely alpha-1 antitrypsin | | | | If the test result does not show improvement with |
| deficiency. | | | | bronchodilators, then COPD is very likely. |
| How does smoking cause COPD? Smoking | | | | What are the treatments of COPD? First of all. Stop |
| inadvertently damages the lining of the airways. As | | | | smoking. This cannot be stressed enough. Smoking |
| with any other part of the body in response to | | | | cessation is the first thing you have to do if you |
| injury, inflammation occurs. Inflammation stimulates | | | | want to get better. As the underlying mechanism of |
| the damaged lining to secrete mucus in an abnormal | | | | COPD is irreversible, medications are used with an aim |
| amount and also causes the airway to constrict | | | | to slow down it's progress. Drugs that are commonly |
| (narrow). | | | | used to treat COPD include short-acting |
| What are the symptoms of COPD? The two main | | | | bronchodilator inhalers (i.e. salbutamol), long-acting |
| symptoms are cough and breathlessness. COPD | | | | bronchodilator inhalers (i.e. tiotropium), steroid inhalers |
| sufferers commonly complain about breathlessness | | | | and tablets are all available drugs for treatment of |
| and cough that develop gradually over a long period | | | | COPD. Again, no treatment is more important that |
| of time. The cough that COPD sufferer gets are | | | | stop smoking. Lung transplant is the last option and |
| usually productive which means they commonly | | | | should be reserved for people with severe COPD. |