{"id":3044,"date":"2022-12-01T10:32:44","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T15:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/pulmonary\/?page_id=3044"},"modified":"2024-09-25T18:05:08","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T22:05:08","slug":"chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-copd","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/pulmonary\/patient-care\/pulmonary-subspecialty-care\/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-copd\/","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What is COPD?<\/h2>\n<p>If you want to hear a podcast about COPD for patients by Dr. Brad Drummond, click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/chairs-corner\/podcast\/copd-with-dr-brad-drummond\/\">here\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The term COPD is applied to a group of lung diseases that involve problems with the ability to blow air out of the lungs (as measured by lung function or pulmonary function testing). The major individual diseases included in this group are\u202f<strong>chronic bronchitis<\/strong>, <strong>emphysema and sometimes asthma with permanent damage<\/strong>.\u202fCOPD is a major cause of serious illness in the U.S., and more than 15 million Americans are affected. Cigarette smoking accounts for 80-90% of the risk of developing COPD, although other exposures or genetic diseases (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/pulmonary\/patient-care\/pulmonary-subspecialty-care\/alpha-1-antitrypsin-deficiency-alpha-1\/\">alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency<\/a>) can also cause COPD. Because not everyone who smokes develops COPD, other less well-defined genetic and environmental factors probably also determine a person\u2019s likelihood of developing COPD with smoking. Hear more patient-focused information from Dr. Brad Drummond on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/news\/chairs-corner\/podcast\/copd-with-dr-brad-drummond\/\">COPD episode of Chairs Corner Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>What is chronic bronchitis?<\/h2>\n<p>Emphysema is the damage of the lung tissue \u2013 in particular, the air sacs that are essential for getting oxygen into the body and carbon dioxide out of the body. Emphysema is diagnosed by taking pictures of the chest using X-ray or CAT scan. Almost all patients have both chronic bronchitis and emphysema with their COPD but some have just chronic bronchitis and some have just emphysema.<\/p>\n<h2>How do I know if I have COPD?<\/h2>\n<p>Because emphysema and chronic bronchitis often occur together, rather than being one or the other, the symptoms of these diseases overlap. Early in the course of the disease, many patients may experience cough and\/or sputum production (often just in the morning) that begins gradually and then persists. Other symptoms include wheezing, tightness in the chest, and shortness of breath. Patients may also experience more frequent chest infections (colds, bronchitis, pneumonia) than usual, or may take longer to recover from them.<\/p>\n<p>If these symptoms are present, a doctor\u202fmust\u202fdo breathing tests (called pulmonary function tests, or PFT\u2019s) in order to make the diagnosis of COPD. A chest x-ray should also be done to make sure other problems aren\u2019t contributing as well.<\/p>\n<h2>What can I do if I have COPD?<\/h2>\n<p>The most important thing you can do if you have COPD is to quit smoking! Studies have shown that patients who are able to quit smoking dramatically slow down the loss of lung function (which we all experience with age), relative to patients who continue to smoke. Because quitting smoking can be so difficult, ask your doctor for help, and don\u2019t give up \u2013 most people require several tries before they are able to successfully break this habit. 黑料网 has resources to help you quit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/fammed\/tobacco-treatment-program\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Although many of the changes of COPD are irreversible once they occur, good improvement in symptoms and exercise capacity can be obtained through the appropriate use of medications and\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/pulmonary\/patient-care\/pulmonary-rehabilitation\/\">pulmonary rehabilitation<\/a>. A small number of patients with severe COPD may also be candidates for surgical treatments (lung transplantation or volume reduction surgery). Your doctor can advise you in more detail about all of these options.<\/p>\n<h2>Contact Us<\/h2>\n<p>The 黑料网 Center for Obstructive Lung Diseases Clinical and Translational Research Center is here to help.<br \/>\nOur physician clinical and research team consists of\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/pulmonary\/people\/m-bradley-drummond-md-mhs\/\">Dr. M. Brad Drummond,<\/a>\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/pulmonary\/people\/henderson\/\">Dr. Ashley Henderson<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/pulmonary\/people\/kunal-jakharia-md\/\">Dr. Kunal Jakharia<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/pulmonary\/people\/brent-kinder-md-ms\/\">Dr. Brent Kinder<\/a>. Dr. Drummond oversees the 黑料网 Alpha-1 Antitrypsin clinic.<br \/>\nFor clinic appointments, call 984-974-5703.<br \/>\nOur clinical nurse coordinator is Nancy Boughey, RN (919-445-0368).<\/p>\n<h2>Clinical Research Studies at 黑料网<\/h2>\n<p>Researchers at 黑料网 are often conducting trials of new treatment approaches for patients with COPD. For COPD research-related inquires, contact our research office at 984-974-2963.<\/p>\n<h2>Patient Resources<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alpha1.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alpha One Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.copdfoundation.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">COPD Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.copdfoundation.org\/COPD360social\/Community\/Find-People-Like-Me.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">COPD360social<\/a>(Meet new friends, connect, and share experiences)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Clinician Resources<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationaljewish.org\/conditions\/medications\/asthma-medications\/devices\/instructional-videos\">Inhaler Training Videos \u2013 National Jewish Health Center<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/pulmonary\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1321\/2024\/09\/PRLIST.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">List of NC Pulmonary Rehab Centers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/945\/2018\/12\/copd-inhaler-voucher-list.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">COPD Inhaler Voucher List\u202f<\/a>(.pdf)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/pulmonary\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1321\/2023\/03\/inhaler-picture-guide-May-2021.pdf\">Inhaler Reference Card<\/a> (.pdf)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is COPD? If you want to hear a podcast about COPD for patients by Dr. Brad Drummond, click here\u00a0 The term COPD is applied to a group of lung diseases that involve problems with the ability to blow air out of the lungs (as measured by lung function or pulmonary function testing). The major &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/pulmonary\/patient-care\/pulmonary-subspecialty-care\/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-copd\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112673,"featured_media":0,"parent":2646,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-3044","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) - Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/medicine\/pulmonary\/patient-care\/pulmonary-subspecialty-care\/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-copd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) - Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What is COPD? 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