What is COPD?
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an umbrella term for a group of disorders, which are progressive, long term and characterised by difficulty in breathing. This is due to airflow obstruction, which is progressive, not fully reversible and does not change markedly over several months.
COPD is the term encompassing chronic bronchitis and emphysema. In most people, there is considerable overlap in the two conditions although each condition may exist by itself. COPD does not include other obstructive lung diseases such as asthma.
There are two separate processes occurring; the process involved in chronic bronchitis and that involved in emphysema.
