COPD - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

COPD - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - COPD is almost always caused by smoking. Over time, breathing tobacco smoke irritates the airways and destroys the stretchy fibers in the lungs.Other things that may put you at risk include breathing chemical fumes, dust, or air pollution over a long period of time. It usually takes many years for the lung damage to start causing symptoms, so COPD is most common in people who are older than 60.

The main symptoms are:

• A long-lasting cough
• Mucus that comes up when you cough
• Shortness of breath that gets worse when you exercise.

COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe. "Progressive" means the disease gets worse over time. COPD can cause coughing that produces large amounts of mucus, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and other symptoms. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of obstructive lung disease characterized by long term poor airflow. The main symptoms include shortness of breath and cough with sputum production. COPD typically worsens over time. Eventually walking up stairs or carrying things will be difficult.

 Other causes of COPD can include:

• genetic reasons (alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency)
• occupational dusts and chemicals
• second hand smoke
• frequent lung infections as a child
• wood smoke and other biomass (animal dung, crop residues) fuel used for cooking.