Although these resources focus on heart health, they include basic information about how to quit smoking. If you have COPD, the most important step you can take is to quit smoking. Quitting can help prevent complications and slow the progression of the disease. You also should avoid exposure to the lung irritants mentioned above. Follow your treatments for COPD exactly as your doctor prescribes. They can help you breathe easier, stay more active, and avoid or manage severe symptoms.
Talk with your doctor about whether and when you should get flu, or influenza, and pneumonia vaccines. These vaccines can lower your chances of getting these illnesses, which are major health risks for people who have COPD. At first, COPD may cause no symptoms or only mild symptoms. As the disease gets worse, symptoms usually become more severe. Common signs and symptoms of COPD include:. If you have COPD, you also may often have colds or other respiratory infections such as the flu, or influenza.
Not everyone who has the symptoms described above has COPD. Likewise, not everyone who has COPD has these symptoms. Some of the symptoms of COPD are similar to the symptoms of other diseases and conditions. Your doctor can determine if you have COPD. If your symptoms are mild, you may not notice them, or you may adjust your lifestyle to make breathing easier.
For example, you may take the elevator instead of the stairs. Over time, symptoms may become severe enough to cause you to see a doctor.
For example, you may become short of breath during physical exertion. The severity of your symptoms will depend on how much lung damage you have. If you keep smoking, the damage will occur faster than if you stop smoking.
Severe COPD can cause other symptoms, such as swelling in your ankles, feet, or legs; weight loss; and lower muscle endurance. Some severe symptoms may require treatment in a hospital. You—or, if you are unable, family members or friends— should seek emergency care if you are experiencing the following:. As soon as you notice symptoms of COPD in yourself or a loved one, talk to your doctor.
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your doctor visit. Your doctor will diagnose COPD based on your signs and symptoms, your medical and family histories, and test results. Your doctor may ask whether you smoke or have had contact with lung irritants, such as secondhand smoke, air pollution, chemical fumes, or dusts. If you have an ongoing cough , let your doctor know how long you've had it, how much you cough, and how much mucus comes up when you cough.
Also, let your doctor know whether you have a family history of COPD. Your doctor will examine you and use a stethoscope to listen for wheezing or other abnormal chest sounds. He or she also may recommend one or more tests to diagnose COPD.
Diagnosing COPD. Learn about spirometry and other diagnostic tests your doctor may use to diagnose COPD based on your symptoms and risk factors. Pulmonary function tests measure how much air you can breathe in and out, how fast you can breathe air out, and how well your lungs deliver oxygen to your blood. The main test for COPD is spirometry. Other lung function tests, such as a lung diffusion capacity test, also might be used.
Read Pulmonary Function Tests for more information. During this painless test, a technician will ask you to take a deep breath in. Then, you'll blow as hard as you can into a tube connected to a small machine. The machine is called a spirometer. Spirometry test. Spirometry measures how much air you breathe out and how fast you blow it out.
The results of the test can help your doctor diagnose COPD even before you have symptoms. The machine measures how much air you breathe out. It also measures how fast you can blow air out. Your doctor may have you inhale, or breathe in, medicine that helps open your airways and then blow into the tube again. He or she can then compare your test results before and after taking the medicine. Spirometry can detect COPD before symptoms develop. Your doctor also might use the test results to find out how severe your COPD is and to help set your treatment goals.
The test results also may help find out whether another condition, such as asthma or heart failure , is causing your symptoms. COPD has no cure yet. However, lifestyle changes and treatments can help you feel better, stay more active, and slow the progress of the disease.
To assist with your treatment, your family doctor may advise you to see a pulmonologist. This is a doctor who specializes in treating lung disorders. Managing COPD. Learn treatment options and healthy living tips to help manage COPD symptoms. Quitting smoking is the most important step you can take to treat COPD.
Talk with your doctor about programs and products that can help you quit. Also, try to avoid secondhand smoke and places with dusts, fumes, or other toxic substances that you may inhale. If you have COPD, especially more severe forms, you may have trouble eating enough because of symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue.
As a result, you may not get all of the calories and nutrients you need, which can worsen your symptoms and raise your risk for infections. Talk with your doctor about following an eating plan that will meet your nutritional needs. Your doctor may suggest eating smaller, more frequent meals; resting before eating; and taking vitamins or nutritional supplements.
Also, talk with your doctor about what types of activity are safe for you. You may find it hard to remain active with your symptoms. However, physical activity can strengthen the muscles that help you breathe and improve your overall wellness. Bronchodilators relax the muscles around your airways. This helps open your airways and makes breathing easier. Depending on the severity of your COPD, your doctor may prescribe short-acting or long-acting bronchodilators.
Short-acting bronchodilators last about 4—6 hours and should be used only when needed. These two types of bronchodilators can be taken in combination by inhaler or with a nebulizer. Long-acting bronchodilators are commonly combined with inhaled glucocorticosteroids. A glucocorticosteroid can reduce inflammation in the airways and lower mucus production. The long-acting bronchodilator can relax the airway muscle to help the airways stay wider. Corticosteroids are also available in pill form.
This type of medication can be taken in pill form to help reduce inflammation and relax the airways. This medication eases chest tightness and shortness of breath. It may also help prevent flare-ups. Theophylline is an older medication that relaxes the muscle of the airways, and it may cause side effects. To lower risk of other respiratory infections, ask your doctor if you should get a yearly flu shot, pneumococcal vaccine , and a tetanus booster that includes protection from pertussis whooping cough.
Learn more about the drugs and medications used to treat COPD. Also, remember to go easy on the salt. It causes the body to retain water, which can strain breathing. Drink plenty of fluids. Drinking at least six to eight 8-ounce glasses of non-caffeinated liquids a day can help keep mucus thinner.
This may make the mucus easier to cough out. Limit caffeinated beverages because they can interfere with medications. If you have heart problems, you may need to drink less, so talk to your doctor.
Maintaining a healthy weight is important. It takes more energy to breathe when you have COPD, so you might need to take in more calories. Overall, having COPD weakens your immune system and decreases your ability to fight off infection. A full stomach makes it harder for your lungs to expand, leaving you short of breath. If you find that this happens to you, try these remedies:. Check out these 5 diet tips for people with COPD.
COPD requires lifelong disease management. That means following the advice of your healthcare team and maintaining healthy lifestyle habits. There are different grading systems, and one grading system is part of the GOLD classification. This is based on the spirometry test result of your FEV1. This is the amount of air you can breathe out of the lungs in the first second of a forced expiration.
The severity increases as your FEV1 decreases. The GOLD classification also takes into account your individual symptoms and history of acute exacerbations. Based on this information, your doctor can assign a letter group to you to help define your COPD grade.
Learn more about the different stages of COPD. COPD and lung cancer are major health problems worldwide. These two diseases are linked in a number of ways. COPD and lung cancer have several common risk factors.
Some research also suggests that being exposed to other people's cigarette smoke passive smoking may increase your risk of COPD. Exposure to certain types of dust and chemicals at work may damage the lungs and increase your risk of COPD.
Exposure to air pollution over a long period can affect how well the lungs work and some research suggests it could increase your risk of COPD. But at the moment the link between air pollution and COPD is not conclusive and research is continuing. You're more likely to develop COPD if you smoke and have a close relative with the condition, which suggests some people's genes might make them more vulnerable to the condition.
Smoking causes COPD, lung cancer , heart disease and other cancers. Avoid exposure to secondhand smoke. Make your home smokefree.
You'll not only protect yourself, but your family too. Learn about your rights to a smokefree environment at work and in public places. Be aware of other dangers. Take care to protect yourself against chemicals, dust and fumes in your home and at work.
Help fight for clean air. Work with others in your community to help clean up the air you and your family breathe.
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