What Is COPD?
COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary (PULL-mun-ary) disease, is a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe. "Progressive" means the disease gets worse over time.
COPD can cause coughing that produces large amounts of mucus (a slimy substance), wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and other symptoms.
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of COPD. Most people who have COPD smoke or used to smoke. Long-term exposure to other lung irritants, such as air pollution, chemical fumes, or dust, also may contribute to COPD.
Overview
To understand COPD, it helps to understand how the lungs work. The air that you breathe goes down your windpipe into tubes in your lungs called bronchial tubes, or airways.
The airways are shaped like an upside-down tree with many branches. At the end of the branches are tiny air sacs called alveoli (al-VEE-uhl-eye).
The airways and air sacs are elastic. When you breathe in, each air sac fills up with air like a small balloon. When you breathe out, the air sac deflates and the air goes out.
In COPD, less air flows in and out of the airways because of one or more of the following:
The airways and air sacs lose their elastic quality.
The walls between many of the air sacs are destroyed.
The walls of the airways become thick and inflamed (swollen).
The airways make more mucus than usual, which tends to clog the airways.
Healthy Alveoli and Damaged Alveoli
The illustration shows the respiratory system and images of healthy alveoli and alveoli damaged by COPD.
In the United States, the term "COPD" includes two main conditions—emphysema (em-fi-SE-ma) and chronic obstructive bronchitis (bron-KI-tis).
In emphysema, the walls between many of the air sacs are damaged, causing them to lose their shape and become floppy. This damage also can destroy the walls of the air sacs, leading to fewer and larger air sacs instead of many tiny ones.
In chronic obstructive bronchitis, the lining of the airways is constantly irritated and inflamed. This causes the lining to thicken. Lots of thick mucus forms in the airways, making it hard to breathe.
Most people who have COPD have both emphysema and chronic obstructive bronchitis. Thus, the general term "COPD" is more accurate.
Outlook
COPD is a major cause of disability, and it's the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. More than 12 million people are currently diagnosed with COPD. An additional 12 million likely have the disease and don't even know it.
COPD develops slowly. Symptoms often worsen over time and can limit your ability to do routine activities. Severe COPD may prevent you from doing even basic activities like walking, cooking, or taking care of yourself.
What Causes COPD?
Most cases of COPD develop after long-term exposure to lung irritants that damage the lungs and the airways.
In the United States, the most common irritant that causes COPD is cigarette smoke. Pipe, cigar, and other types of tobacco smoke also can cause COPD, especially if the smoke is inhaled. Secondhand smoke—that is, smoke in the air from other people smoking—also can irritate the lungs and contribute to COPD.
Breathing in air pollution and chemical fumes or dust from the environment or workplace also can contribute to COPD.
In rare cases, a genetic condition called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency may play a role in causing COPD. People who have this condition have low levels of alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT)—a protein made in the liver.
Having a low level of the AAT protein can lead to lung damage and COPD if you're exposed to smoke or other lung irritants. If you have this condition and smoke, COPD can worsen very quickly.
Most of the time, COPD is diagnosed in middle-aged or older people. The disease isn't passed from person to person—you can't catch it from someone else.
COPD has no cure yet, and doctors don't know how to reverse the damage to the airways and lungs. However, treatments and lifestyle changes can help you feel better, stay more active, and slow the progress of the disease.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of COPD?
The signs and symptoms of COPD include:
An ongoing cough or a cough that produces large amounts of mucus (often called "smoker's cough")
Shortness of breath, especially with physical activity
Wheezing (a whistling or squeaky sound when you breathe)
Chest tightness
These symptoms often occur years before the flow of air into and out of the lungs declines. However, not everyone who has these symptoms has COPD. Likewise, not everyone who has COPD has these symptoms.
Some of the symptoms of COPD are similar to the symptoms of other diseases and conditions. Your doctor can determine if you have COPD.
If you have COPD, you may have frequent colds or flu. If your COPD is severe, you may have swelling in your ankles, feet, or legs; a bluish color on your lips due to low levels of oxygen in your blood; and shortness of breath.
COPD symptoms usually slowly worsen over time. At first, if symptoms are mild, you may not notice them, or you may adjust your lifestyle to make breathing easier. For example, you may take the elevator instead of the stairs.
Over time, symptoms may become bad enough to see a doctor. For example, you may get short of breath during physical exertion.
How severe your symptoms are depends on how much lung damage you have. If you keep smoking, the damage will occur faster than if you stop smoking. In severe COPD, you may have other symptoms, such as weight loss and lower muscle endurance.
Some severe symptoms may require treatment in a hospital. You—with the help of family members or friends, if you're unable—should seek emergency care if:
You're having a hard time catching your breath or talking.
Your lips or fingernails turn blue or gray. (This is a sign of a low oxygen level in your blood.)
You're not mentally alert.
Your heartbeat is very fast.
The recommended treatment for symptoms that are getting worse isn't working.
How Is COPD Treated?
COPD has no cure yet. However, treatments and lifestyle changes can help you feel better, stay more active, and slow the progress of the disease.
Quitting smoking is the most important step you can take to treat COPD. Talk to your doctor about programs and products that can help you quit. Many hospitals have programs that help people quit smoking, or hospital staff can refer you to a program. Ask your family members and friends to support you in your efforts to quit. Also, try to avoid secondhand smoke.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's "Your Guide to a Healthy Heart" booklet has more information about how to quit smoking.
Other treatments for COPD may include medicines, vaccines, pulmonary rehabilitation (rehab), oxygen therapy, surgery, and managing complications.
The goals of COPD treatment are to:
Relieve your symptoms
Slow the progress of the disease
Improve your exercise tolerance (your ability to stay active)
Prevent and treat complications
Improve your overall health
Specialists Involved
To assist with your treatment, your family doctor may advise you to see a pulmonologist. This is a doctor who specializes in treating people who have lung problems.
Medicines
Bronchodilators
Bronchodilators relax the muscles around your airways. This helps open your airways and makes breathing easier.
Depending on how severe your disease is, your doctor may prescribe short-acting or long-acting bronchodilators. Short-acting bronchodilators last about 4 to 6 hours and should be used only when needed. Long-acting bronchodilators last about 12 hours or more and are used every day.
Most bronchodilators are taken using a device called an inhaler. This device allows the medicine to go right to your lungs. Not all inhalers are used the same way. Ask your health care team to show you the right way to use your inhaler.
If your COPD is mild, your doctor may only prescribe a short-acting inhaled bronchodilator. In this case, you may only use the medicine when symptoms occur.
If your COPD is moderate or severe, your doctor may prescribe regular treatment with short- and long-acting bronchodilators.
Inhaled Glucocorticosteroids (Steroids)
Inhaled steroids are used for some people who have moderate or severe COPD. These medicines may reduce airway inflammation (swelling).
Your doctor may ask you to try inhaled steroids for a trial period of 6 weeks to 3 months to see whether the medicine is helping with your breathing problems.
Vaccines
Flu Shots
The flu (influenza) can cause serious problems for people who have COPD. Flu shots can reduce your risk for the flu. Talk with your doctor about getting a yearly flu shot.
Pneumococcal Vaccine
This vaccine lowers your risk for pneumococcal pneumonia (nu-MO-ne-ah) and its complications. People who have COPD are at higher risk for pneumonia than people who don't have COPD. Talk with your doctor about whether you should get this vaccine.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Pulmonary rehab is a medically supervised program that helps improve the health and well-being of people who have lung problems. Rehab may include an exercise program, disease management training, and nutritional and psychological counseling. The program aims to help you stay more active and carry out your day-to-day activities.
Your rehab team may include doctors, nurses, physical therapists, respiratory therapists, exercise specialists, and dietitians. These health professionals work together and with you to create a program that meets your needs.
Oxygen Therapy
If you have severe COPD and low levels of oxygen in your blood, oxygen therapy can help you breathe better. For this treatment, you're given oxygen through nasal prongs or a mask.
You may need extra oxygen all the time or just sometimes. For some people who have severe COPD, using extra oxygen for most of the day can help them:
Do tasks or activities, while having fewer symptoms
Protect their hearts and other organs from damage
Sleep more during the night and improve alertness during the day
Live longer
Surgery
In rare cases, surgery may benefit some people who have COPD. Surgery usually is a last resort for people who have severe symptoms that have not improved from taking medicines.
Surgeries for people who have COPD that's mainly related to emphysema include bullectomy (bul-EK-to-me) and lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS). A lung transplant may be done for people who have very severe COPD.
Bullectomy
When the walls of the air sacs are destroyed, larger air spaces called bullae form. These air spaces can become so large that they interfere with breathing. In a bullectomy, doctors remove one or more very large bullae from the lungs.
Lung Volume Reduction Surgery
In LVRS, surgeons remove damaged tissues from the lungs. This helps the lungs work better. In carefully selected patients, LVRS can improve breathing and quality of life.
Lung Transplant
A lung transplant may benefit some people who have very severe COPD. During a lung transplant, your damaged lung is removed and replaced with a healthy lung from a deceased donor.
A lung transplant can improve your lung function and quality of life. However, lung transplants have a high risk of complications. These include infections and death due to the body rejecting the transplanted lung.
If you have very severe COPD, talk to your doctor about whether a lung transplant is an option. Discuss with your doctor the benefits and risks of this type of surgery.
Managing Complications
COPD symptoms usually slowly worsen over time. However, they can become more severe suddenly. For instance, a cold, the flu, or a lung infection may cause your symptoms to quickly worsen. You may have a much harder time catching your breath. You also may have chest tightness, more coughing, changes in the color or amount of your sputum (spit), and a fever.
Call your doctor right away if this happens. He or she may prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection and other medicines, such as bronchodilators and glucocorticosteroids, to help with your breathing.
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