COPD includes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both. Over time, it makes it harder and harder to breathe because less air is able to flow in and out of the lungs.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
My wife Kris and I enjoy keeping an active lifestyle, so it's hard to imagine what it would be like if breathing problems kept me from participating in the activities I love to do. But that's exactly what happens to many people who develop COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
A lot of people have a cough that doesn't go away, or go up and down stairs and get shortness of breath, and they don't think about COPD. They could have a problem, though, and catching it in the beginning stages is crucial.
My sister, Dottie, suffered from COPD for quite a few years before we knew what it was. Hers was a form of emphysema, and she was 48 when she passed away.
It's important for people to recognize that they shouldn't ignore symptoms like shortness of breath or a cough that won't go away, because these may be signs of COPD.
I had asthma when I was a kid, asthma so bad that it would turn into pneumonia and I almost died several times. Nobody knew why back then, but now it's obvious.
Asthma doesn't seem to bother me any more unless I'm around cigars or dogs. The thing that would bother me most would be a dog smoking a cigar.
In the human lung, there are millions of air foils, just like aeroplane wings, which facilitate normal breathing.
Carbon pollution contributes to climate change, which causes temperatures to rise. Hotter temperatures mean more smog in the air, and breathing smog can inflame deep lung tissue. Repeated inflammation over time can permanently scar lung tissue, even in low concentrations.
There's so much pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it all.
We have so much lung capacity that we don't even notice a problem until we are in our 40s.