What is COPD?
COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) is a general term which includes the conditions chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
- Chronic means persistent.
- Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (the airways of the lungs).
- Emphysema is damage to the smaller airways and airsacs (alveoli) of the lungs.
- Pulmonary means 'affecting the lungs'.
Chronic bronchitis or emphysema can cause obstruction (narrowing) of the airways. Chronic bronchitis and emphysema commonly occur together. The term COPD is used to describe airways which are narrowed due to chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both.
How common is COPD?
COPD is common in the UK. It mainly affects people over the age of 40. It accounts for more time off work than any other illness. A flare-up (exacerbation) of COPD is one of the commonest reasons for admission to hospital.
What causes COPD?
Smoking is the cause in the vast majority of cases. There is no doubt about this. The lining of the airways becomes inflamed and damaged by smoking. About 3 in 20 one-pack-per-day smokers, and 1 in 4 two-pack-per-day smokers develop COPD if they continue to smoke. Air pollution and polluted work conditions may play a part or make the disease worse. However, people who have never smoked rarely develop COPD.
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Weekend Horoscopes, about 1 year
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Report this commentmichelle woodfield, over 2 years
i am a mother of three children all of whom as cystic fribrosis and my mother in law who as just moved in with us has copd and i just wanted to know if there is any danger in them passing infection on to each other and weather people with copd grow bugs on there lungs (if so what are they called) as this could be very harmful to someone who has cf i would be most greatful if you could email with some information as soon as possible thank you miss michelle woodfield
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Horoscopes Love Relationships As a result, TrackBack spam filters similar to those implemented against comment spam now exist in many weblog publishing systems.
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