Your Health

Understanding Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Posted 1/7/2011

While some people view a life with COPD solely in terms of limitations, others see an opportunity to shape the kind of life they want to live despite the disease.

(NAPSI) - There are 12 million Americans that have been diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

People with COPD see their disease as both a burden they must deal with and as a loss in their lives, according to recent in-home research conducted by GlaxoSmithKline—one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.

Respondents said COPD prevents them from living life to its fullest—and as the disease progresses, they have become increasingly limited in what they can do and simultaneously increasingly reliant on the Internet. From initial information gathering at diagnosis, the Internet becomes a lifeline for patients. With more information about their disease, people with COPD feel better able to manage it.

The website www.COPD.com offers information to help people understand and live with COPD at various stages of the disease.

COPD is a progressive lung disease that includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It can be life-threatening in its severe stages. COPD is characterized by airflow obstruction, which leads to the hallmark symptoms of the disease—chronic cough, chest tightness, shortness of breath, increased effort to breathe and increased mucus production. Over time, people with COPD suffer from shortness of breath so severe that it can interfere with the most basic daily activities, including sleeping, talking and even dressing.

The website www.COPD.com has advice for both patients and caregivers on dealing with the disease.