Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

 

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the name for a collection of lung diseases including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. People with COPD have difficulties breathing, primarily due to the narrowing of their airways, this is called airflow obstruction. Typical symptoms of COPD include, increasing breathlessness when active, a persistent cough with phlegm and frequent chest infections.

 

The main cause of COPD is smoking, and the likelihood of developing COPD increases the more you smoke and the longer you've been smoking. This is because smoking irritates and inflames the lungs, which results in scarring. Over many years, the inflammation leads to permanent changes in the lung. The walls of the airways thicken and more mucus is produced.

 

Emphysema involves damage to the delicate walls of the air sacs in the lungs causing  the lungs to  lose their normal elasticity. The smaller airways also become scarred and narrowed. These changes cause the symptoms of breathlessness, cough and phlegm, associated with COPD.

 

Bronchitis is an infection of the main airways of the lungs (bronchi), which causes them to become irritated and inflamed. The main symptom is a cough, which may bring up yellow-grey mucus. Bronchitis may also cause a sore throat, wheezing and a blocked nose. Bronchitis can be acute and get better quickly, whereas chronic bronchitis will not get better, but symptoms can be relieved. The bronchitis infection can be caused by either a virus or bacteria, although viral bronchitis is much more common. Bronchitis can also be triggered by breathing in irritant substances, such as smog, chemicals in household products or tobacco smoke.