symptoms of copd

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National COPD Awareness Month – Don’t Let COPD take your breath away. Why you should get checked out if you cough, wheeze or have shortness of breath!


COPD Awareness

COPD Awareness

Many of us know that coughing, wheezing, and shortness of Breath are symptoms of COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

But to many people feel these signs can be from a mild colds, being a little bit unfit or even just the aging process. Often we are less likely to bring these symptoms up to our doctors because they don’t feel they are significant. Because our doctors do not know we have the symptoms of COPD we just don’t get diagnosed!

As this month is National COPD Awareness Month we thought we would run a blog post to highlight some key issues. As you may know COPD is a lung disease that over time makes it hard to breathe. It is often referred to as emphysema or chronic bronchitis. According to some sources it is the third biggest killer in the USA.

So what are they symptoms of COPD? Well they include:-

a) constant coughing (smoker’s cough)
b) shortness of breath during typical daily activities
c) wheezing
d) inability to take deep breaths
e) excessive sputum production
f) feeling as though it is impossible to breathe.

If you have any of these symptoms please book an appointment to see your Doctor as soon as possible.


James P. Kiley, Ph.D. Director, Division of Lung Diseases, at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health has said in the past; “We urge you to pay special attention to how you are breathing, especially if you become short of breath during your daily activities. Learn more about the symptoms of COPD and if they sound like you, start the conversation with your health care provider. Talking about any symptoms you may be experiencing will help them help you. While there is no cure for COPD — early diagnosis and treatment can help people with COPD improve their symptoms, cut down the flare-ups of the disease (exacerbations) and get back to the things they love doing.”

You can test for COPD with a non-invasive breathing test called spirometry. With proper diagnosis and treatment, you can live longer and improve your quality of life.

You can find out more about COPD by visiting this website, which is part of the COPD Learn More Breathe Better® awareness campaign from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

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Do you ever have problems breathing? Find out about the early signs and symptoms of COPD!

Breathing difficulty

Breathing difficulty

If you think that you have any of the symptoms of COPD then we strongly advise you to contact you physician as soon as possible.  Early treatment can be very effective so it is imperative that you get diagnosed (or the possibility of COPD excluded) as fast as you can.

So what exactly is COPD?

COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  In fact, it is a bit of an umbrella terms for a number of health conditions affecting the lungs.  Chronic bronchitis and emphysema are the primary types but some physicians also include chronic (irreversible) asthma and bronchiectasis. COPD is defined by the Gold Report on COPD as persistently poor air flow to the lungs which in turn is caused by a breakdown of the lung tissue.

The World Health Authority estimates that COPD is the 6th highest cause of death on the globe.  It may also increase with the rise in air pollution (tobacco smoke and car fumes for example) and longer life expectancies.

The most common symptoms of COPD are:-

a)      Breathlessness when moving or taking exercise

b)      Constant cough

c)       Regular production of mucus

d)      Regular chest infections

e)      Constant wheezing

One of the main causes of COPD is smoking tobacco and breathing other types of air pollution.  If you do smoke you will be asked to give up the habit.  For more information please go to https://patienttalk.org/?p=495.    It is worth noting that there is a genetic aspect to COPD as well.

Do you have COPD?

If so we would love it if you could tell us a bit more about your journey. Please feel free to use the comments box below to add anything you think might be of interest to our readers.

Thanks very much in advance.