Overview
COPD is a long-term lung disease that makes breathing progressively harder as the airways narrow and lose their stretch. It is mainly caused by smoking and, in India, also by years of smoke from cooking fires and heavy air pollution. It cannot be cured, but stopping smoking, inhalers and staying active can slow it down and greatly ease symptoms. Flare-ups from infections are a common reason for hospital visits.
Symptoms
- Breathlessness that worsens over years, first on exertion
- A long-standing cough, often with mucus
- Frequent chest infections
- Wheezing and chest tightness
- Tiredness and reduced ability to do daily tasks
When to see a doctor
See a doctor for long-standing breathlessness or cough, and urgently if breathing suddenly worsens with fever or coloured phlegm.
Emergency — call 108 or go to the nearest hospital
- Severe breathlessness, blue lips, confusion or being unable to speak in full sentences — call 108 immediately
Causes
Long-term exposure to smoke — from cigarettes, biomass cooking fuel and air pollution — and, rarely, an inherited protein deficiency.