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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Overview
"Dreams permit each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives." -- William Dement
 
COPD VS Emphysema - Great graphic shows the Difference between
COPD And Emphysema
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) describes a group of diseases that make it hard to breathe because they partially block the normal flow of air into and out of the person's lungs (airway obstruction). COPD usually takes many years to develop before shortness of breath becomes enough of a problem that the person needs help breathing. For this reason, COPD is usually considered a disease of older adults and is most commonly diagnosed in individuals over the age of 60.
Nearly all cases of COPD are due to chronic bronchitis or emphysema. Although an individual can have only chronic bronchitis or only emphysema, he or she usually has at least part of both. In this situation, the person will have a mixture of the symptoms each disease. Chronic bronchitis is caused by long-term (chronic) irritation of the lung's airways (bronchial tubes).
Frequent lung infections, especially in a person who smokes, may make chronic bronchitis develop more quickly. Medications often help only a little to make breathing easier for people with chronic bronchitis. This is different from asthma, in which medications usually make breathing during an attack much easier.
Most chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is caused by lung irritants. Many factors such as cigarette smoke, smoke from fires (both Camp fires and forest fires), air pollution, dust, chemical fumes, allergies and repeated severe lung infections, may make a person more likely to develop COPD.
The large amount of mucus produced, inflammation, and scarring make the airways smaller. It is harder to move air through a small tube than a large tube. The extra effort of breathing through a smaller airway can make a person feel out of breath. This is especially harmful to the tiny air sacs (alveoli) at the end of the airways from which oxygen gets into the blood. When these air sacs are damaged, their walls break down and the sacs become larger. These larger air sacs move less oxygen into the blood.
Many individuals, more are being found than originally thought to exist, have an inherited condition in which their body may not be able to make a protein (such as alpha1-antitrypsin or A1AD) that helps protect their lungs from damage. In normal and healthy individuals, the enzyme protects the lungs from a natural enzyme that helps fight bacteria and clean up dead lung tissue. However, this enzyme can also eventually damage lung tissue if not neutralized by the enzyme. If allowed to progress, this form of emphysema becomes chronic and lung tissue continues to be destroyed; usually it is fatal if the progress is not slowed down or halted.
Read this before you go to your next doctor appointment!!
COPD Advocate
Last Updated: 2/18/02
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