Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) | HealthInfi

Overview

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disorder that typically occurs in older adults with a history of smoking. It kills one person every four minutes in the United States and is one of the few causes of death that continues to increase. Today, more women than men have COPD, with an estimated 7 million women diagnosed with the disease. The prevalence of COPD is increasing among women while decreasing among men. Plus, more women than men die every year from the disease.

When you have COPD, your airways and the tiny air sacs in the lung (alveoli) are damaged by smoking or other inhaled particles and gases, which cause swelling, or inflammation. Eventually, this damages the lungs making it hard to breathe in and out and difficult for oxygen and carbon dioxide to pass through the air sacs.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease used to be described as chronic bronchitisoremphysema, but today we know that both conditions are forms of COPD. Asthma is a separate conditions that also involves airflow limitation but affects people of all ages and typically affects those 40 and older. In addition, breathing issues in asthma can often be resolved with bronchodilator medication, while the airways with COPD may be only partially opened with medication.

It is possible, however, to have emphysema, bronchitis and asthma all at the same time.

An estimated 14.8 million Americans have been diagnosed with COPD. Although more adults are aware of the disease today than a few years ago (71 percent compared to 65 percent in 2008), a substantial number of people still do not know about the disease, its symptoms and how it is managed. In fact, an estimated 12 million people may have COPD and remain undiagnosed.

Although the primary cause of COPD is cigarette smoking, about 10 to 20 percent of those diagnosed—one out of six people with the disease—have never smoked. Instead, they developed the condition from environmental exposures such as air pollution or work-related fumes, exhaust or dust. Other possible causes include low birth weight, fetal developmental issues, early childhood infections and genetic factors. Further, close to 100,000 Americans have a genetic condition known as alpha-1 antitrypsin, or AAT deficiency, that has been linked to COPD. Read More