COPD, What’s wrong with me?

What is COPD, it is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, it is a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe. Progressive means it gets worse over time.

COPD can cause coughing that produces large amounts of mucus, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and other symptoms.

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of COPD. Most people who have COPD smoke or used to smoke. Long-term exposure to other lung irritants, such as air pollution, chemical fumes, or dust, also may contribute to COPD. Mine is from smoking.

I guess to understand COPD; it helps to understand how the lungs work. The air that you breathe goes down your windpipe into tubes in your lungs called bronchial tubes, or airways. Your airways are shaped like an upside down tree with many branches, at the end of each branch is an air sac. The air sacs and the airways are elastic, meaning when you breathe in each sac fills with air, sort of like a balloon and when you breathe out, the sac deflates.

When you have COPD, less air flows in and out, because the airways and air sacs have lost their elasticity. The walls between the air sacs have been destroyed, or they have become thick and inflamed and have more mucus than usual which will clog the airways. The term COPD includes two main conditions, emphysema and chronic obstructive bronchitis.

In emphysema, the walls between many of the air sacs are damaged, causing them to lose their shape and become floppy. This damage also can destroy the walls of the air sacs, leading to fewer and larger air sacs instead of many tiny ones. In chronic obstructive bronchitis, the lining of the airways is constantly irritated and inflamed. This causes the lining to thicken. Lots of thick mucus forms in the airways, making it hard to breathe. Most people who have COPD have both emphysema and chronic obstructive bronchitis. Thus, the general term "COPD" is more accurate. COPD is a major cause of disability and it's the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. More than 12 million people are currently diagnosed with COPD. An additional 12 million likely have the disease and don't even know it. COPD develops slowly. Symptoms often worsen over time and can limit your ability to do routine activities. Severe COPD may prevent you from doing even basic activities like walking, cooking, or taking care of yourself. Most of the time, COPD is diagnosed in middle-aged or older people. The disease isn't passed from person to person—you can't catch it from someone else. COPD has no cure yet and doctors don't know how to reverse the damage to the airways and lungs. However, treatments and lifestyle changes can help you feel better, stay more active, and slow the progress of the disease.