COPD Disease

There are hundreds of reasons why people should, once and for all, quit smoking. Aside from impotence and lung cancer, a person with a long-term smoking history could also develop another lethal respiratory disease called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD. Studies show that since the rise of cigarette and tobacco selling, the disease became one of the major causes of death in the world. Also, a recent study projected that by the year 2020, COPD will be the third leading cause of death worldwide.

COPD is almost always mistaken as the generic name of a more common disease called Asthma. COPD affects the lungs by narrowing its airways. Inflammation is the term that doctors use to describe this process to affected patients. Once a patient's lung airways narrow, flow of air in the lungs gets limited causing severe shortness in breath. The main difference between Asthma and COPD is that COPD is more lethal – chances of fully- recovering from the disease is very low since, this disease causes permanent damage and blockage or plugging of the airways in the lungs.

Patients with COPD usually have the loosely described, “exaggerated” dyspnea or shortness in breath. Other symptoms of COPD are daily morning coughs with mucus, all-day persistent chest symptoms such as tightness and tiredness, and wheezing.

COPD can also affect non-smoking people. Mining workers who most likely get intense and prolonged exposure to chemical dusts such as cadmium, isocyanates, and Silica can develop COPD. The worsening condition of air pollution is also commonly cited as a contributing factor to the development of the disease.

Other names of COPD include chronic obstructive airway disease (COAD), chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD), and chronic airflow limitation (CAL).