What is COPD? COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is a disease that impairs the lungs. The major cause of COPD is tobacco use. It robs individuals of quality of life. It is a general term that encompasses many different lung diseases. Treatment starts with knowledge and prevention.

A simple explanation to the question what is COPD can be answered in the letters that compose the acronym COPD. These letters stand for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. COPD is used as a term that encompasses the two lung diseases emphysema and chronic bronchitis into one description. COPD is a slow, but progressive disease in which the lungs have trouble keeping body oxygen maintained. In the same way, the lungs do not get rid of carbon dioxide efficiently.

The major cause of COPD is tobacco use. Tobacco use causes damage to the lungs airways. Lung damage increases as the disease progresses due to additional use of tobacco. Most people will not see symptoms until they reach the age of forty or older. Shortness of breath is one of the first COPD symptoms noticed. Additional symptoms of COPD include chronic cough, along with an increase in mucus. Life style changes, especially smoking cessation, can greatly decrease the chances of additional damage to the lungs.

 What Is COPD

What is COPD? It is a terrible destructive disease that robs individuals of their quality of life. It is a disease that takes away the physical strength to do the simple things that one used to find so easy to do. For instance, climbing a flight of stairs becomes climbing a mountain, as far as breathing is concerned.

There are more disorders that can be covered by the general term COPD other than chronic bronchitis and emphysema. COPD can include chronic asthma, cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis. The patient can have several lung disorders at the same time while diagnosed with COPD.

What is COPD? It is a disease that, in recent years, kills more women than men. Women and men smokers or even ex-smokers should be screened for COPD. A test called a spirometry test is a simple test done in a physician’s office. As is with any disease, early detection is key to treatment.

What is COPD? It is the most common type of chronic disease in the United States. It has an increasing death rate and is one of the top five killers in the United States. It also can be a contributing factor to deaths caused by another major factor. The best thing a person with COPD can do to reduce damage is to quit smoking. Second hand smoke is also a contributor to lung disease. This is very important issue that can affect children. The United States has seen a decrease in smoking in recent years due to the campaign against cigarette companies. However, the same cigarette companies are aggressively selling their products to other countries with less strict restrictions on tobacco. The result could be more cases of COPD in these countries as well.

Besides smoking as a major cause of an increase in COPD diagnosis, environmental bad air quality is also thought to contribute to the disease. Air pollution is an issue that many countries are dealing with in the fight against diseases of the lungs. Occupational exposure in the workplace is also a major contribution to lung diseases. The exposure to such dusts as coal, grain, and cotton dust can greatly increase the chances of acquiring COPD.

Many of the causes of COPD are preventable. The quality of life that a person experiences later in life can be influenced so much by the lifestyle chosen early in life. Stopping tobacco use, cleaning up the air quality and the eliminating the workplace exposure to hazardous materials can be accomplished. In addition to the loss of quality of life, COPD also can rob one of large amounts of money. This can be seen in the high medical costs of medicine and health care treatments for the disease. Once people know the answer to the question what is COPD the sooner the seriousness of the disease will be known. Knowledge of what causes the disease and what preventions can be acted upon will bring a better quality of life for so many future generations.