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Summary Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease information sheet
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Short Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease information sheet, summary including statistics and references.
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COPD (Chronic obstruc ve pulmonary disease)Chronic obstruc ve pulmonary disease (COPD) is the name Symptoms:
for a group of lung condi ons that cause breathing • Increased breathlessness
di cul es. It includes: • Persistent chesty cough
• Emphysema – damage to the air sacs in the lungs • Persistent wheezing
• Chronic bronchi s – long-term in amma on of • Frequent chest infec ons
the airways • Chest pain
• Tiredness
COPD is a common condi on that mainly a ects middle- • Weight loss
aged or older adults who smoke. Many people do not
realise they have it. Breathing problems tend to get
gradually worse over me and can limit normal ac vi es. Bronchi s
Chronic bronchi s is in amma on of the lining of the bronchial
tubes, which carry air to and from the air sacs (alveoli) of the lungs.
It's characterised by daily cough and mucus produc on.
Emphysema is a condi on in which the alveoli at the end of the
smallest air passages (bronchioles) of the lungs are destroyed as a
result of damaging exposure to cigare e smoke and other irrita ng
gases and par culate ma er.
With COPD, less air ows through the airways because of one or
more of the following:
• The airways and ny air sacs in the lungs lose their ability
to stretch and shrink back.
• The walls between many of the air sacs are destroyed. Emphysema
• The walls of the airways become thick and in amed
(irritated and swollen).
• The airways make more mucus than usual, which can
clog them and block air ow.
The link between smoking and COPD
The link between smoking and pulmonary diseases was rst
recognised in the 1870s, but it was not un l 1964 that the US
Surgeon General's report warned of a poten al rela onship
between smoking and emphysema. By 1984, su cient data had
accumulated from epidemiological and animal studies to enable
the Surgeon General to empha cally cite “cigare e smoking as
the major cause of chronic obstruc ve lung disease,” with a
“contribu on… to chronic obstruc ve pulmonary disease
morbidity and mortality that far outweighs other factors.”
Evidence of smoking being a risk factor
People with COPD aged 45 and over were
more likely to be current daily or ex-smokers,
with:
•25% being a current daily smoker
(compared with 12% without COPD aged 45
and over)
•47% being an ex-smoker (compared with
38% without COPD aged 45 and over) (Figure 2)
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