Lungnet

What is COPD? 

COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) is a long-term serious disease of the lungs that makes it difficult to breathe. 

You may know of COPD by other names, like emphysema or chronic bronchitis.

In people who have COPD, the airways - tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs - are partly blocked, which makes it hard to get air in and out.

How the lungs work

Each time you breathe in, air rushes in through your nose and mouth, travels down your windpipe.  The windpipe branches into two smaller tubes called bronchi that take air to both the left and right lung.  Within each lung these tubes continue to branch off becoming smaller and smaller, like an upside down tree.  The smaller tubes are called bronchioles and lead to tiny air sacs called alveoli, where an exchange between oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place.  The oxygen moves into the blood stream and the waste gas, carbon dioxide, moves back into the air sacs ready to be exhaled.

What happens in emphysema?

In emphysema, the air sacs, which allow oxygen and carbon dioxide to be exchanged, are damaged.  This then makes it difficult to get enough oxygen into the blood stream.  The bronchi also lose their elasticity and they become floppy and narrow.  It then becomes harder to breathe air in and push the air back out.

What happens in chronic bronchitis?

Bronchitis means inflammation of the bronchi.  As a result of this inflammation, the mucus which we normally produce to keep our airways moist is produced in excessive amounts, leading to cough and sputum production.  The bronchi can also become floppy and narrow, again making it harder to get air in and out of the lungs.  Chronic means that the condition can last for months or even years.  This is different to the ‘acute' or short term bronchitis that most people have at some time during their lives.

Asthma and COPD can be difficult to differentiate as the symptoms of the two conditions are very similar.  However, treatments for the two conditions are quite different and it is important to get an accurate diagnosis. 

What to watch for:  Ongoing symptoms such as breathlessness need to be investigated.  In people of any age - children to adults - it may be asthma.  In older people, smokers or ex-smokers, it may be COPD.

Lung function testing is highly accurate and a recommended tool for determining the correct diagnosis.