About COPD

WHAT IS COPD?

COPD, or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, is an umbrella term used to describe progressive lung diseases including emphysema, chronic bronchitis, refractory (non-reversible) asthma, and some forms of bronchiectasis.  This disease is characterized by increasing breathlessness.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?

Symptoms include breathlessness, chronic coughing and wheezing. Many people mistake their increased breathlessness and coughing as a normal part of aging.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…

•   The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute estimates that 12 million adults have COPD and another 12 million are undiagnosed or developing COPD.ⁱ

•   COPD is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., twelve years earlier than predicted.ⁱⁱ

•   COPD kills more women than men each year. In 2006, COPD killed more American women than breast cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes.ⁱⁱⁱ

•   Every four minutes an individual dies of COPD^.iv

•   COPD cost the U.S. government approximately $42.6 billion in both direct and indirect expenses in 2007.^v A majority of those expenses are due to hospitalizations, which can be prevented with better diagnosis and management practices.

•   The WHO estimates 210 million individuals worldwide have COPD and total deaths are expected to increase more than thirty percent in the next ten years.^vi

•   Smoking is not the only cause of COPD; second-hand smoke, occupational dust and chemicals, air pollution and genetic factors also cause COPD.

•   COPD is relatively easy to diagnose using a spirometry machine, where the patient exhales as much as possible into a tube.

•   There’s no cure yet for COPD but treatments are available to help individuals live with their COPD.