About Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
What is COPD?
What is chronic bronchitis?
What is emphysema?
What causes COPD?
What is COPD?
About COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD for short, is a progressive lung disease that affects millions of people each year. People with COPD have airways that are narrowed and blocked due to damage. This is most often caused by smoking. People with COPD often have chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema. Many people have primarily chronic bronchitis. Some people with COPD may also have an "asthma-like" or reactive component to their pulmonary disease.
Learn how to recognize the symptoms of COPD.
What is chronic bronchitis?
Chronic bronchitis is characterized by a chronic cough and chronic mucus production. Cigarette smoke can induce an intense inflammation in the lungs. Additionally, there is a thickening of the muscular wall of the large airways and an increase in size and activity of mucous glands. This leads to airway narrowing and blockage by thick, tenacious secretions.
The resulting symptoms include:
- Chronic cough
- Mucus production
- Shortness of breath
Learn more about chronic bronchitis.
What is emphysema?
Emphysema refers to the destruction of the airsacs (alveoli). This is the portion of the lung involved in the transfer of oxygen into the blood stream. Imagine the stems of a bunch of grapes as the airways and the grapes (hollowed out) as the air sacs. When these air sacs are damaged it is difficult to get enough oxygen into the bloodstream.
The resulting symptoms include:
Learn more about emphysema.
What causes COPD?
Over 95% of the cases of COPD are caused by smoking cigarettes. The other 5% of cases are likely caused by significant exposure to various types of dust, (coal, grain or wood). They may also be caused by recurrent or significant lung infections in infancy and early childhood.
Perhaps 1% of the cases of COPD have genetic based deficiencies in an enzyme called alpha-1 antitrypsin. This can lead to early and severe emphysema even in people who have never smoked. Families with multiple members who develop severe emphysema early in life or in non-smokers should be checked for this enzyme deficiency.
Learn more about alpha 1 antitrypsin disorder.
This information has been approved by Ron Balkissoon M.D. (April 2006).
