By 2020, COPD Will Be the Third Leading Cause for Death

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) takes its toll on the sufferer and all those around them. It is a terrible disease, that sacks your energy, makes you gasp for each breath, and makes the long night not one of sleepfulness, but coughing.

Coughing up mucus is often the first sign of COPD; although lung changes which occur are probably happening earlier.

Your airways branch out inside your lungs like an upside-down tree. At the end of each branch are small, balloon-like air sacs. In healthy people, both the airways and air sacs are springy and elastic. When you breathe in, each air sac fills with air like a small balloon. The balloon deflates when you exhale. In COPD, your airways and air sacs lose their shape and become floppy, like a stretched-out rubber band.

Cigarette smoking is the most common cause of COPD. Breathing in other kinds of irritants, like pollution, dust or chemicals, may also cause or contribute to COPD.

It is estimated that 25% of people over 40 will have, at least, mild COPD in the future. This figure includes smokers and ex-smokers.

There has been 'no bright side' to this catastrophic illness; however, new guidelines now show a glimmer of hope. The new medical philosophy is that treatment and prevention are both possible; no longer is therapeutic 'nihilism' the only course.

To meet this end, antibiotics are started when sputum turns purulent, the at risk staging has been eliminated, and changes in type of cough require a change in the treatment plan.

The main thrust continues to be if you don't smoke, don't start; and if you do smoke, stop.