Health encyclopaedia

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Symptoms of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

People who smoke are at much higher risk of COPD. The condition builds up over a number of years, as the lungs are gradually being damaged more and more by smoking, and does not usually become noticeable after the age of 40.

Symptoms include:

• early morning ‘smoker’s cough’,
• persistent coughing,
• mucus and Phlegm,
• wheezing,
• tight chest,
• difficulty breathing,
• shortness of breath,
• recurring lung and chest infections, and
• exacerbations (flare-ups) of breathlessness and phlegm/mucus.

These symptoms are often worse in the winter and it is common for people with COPD to have two or more acute attacks a year.

People who live with COPD are often anxious about their condition and can feel depressed and isolated. COPD can affect work, hobbies, exercise and socialising as well as impacting on relationships, particularly physical ones.

COPD can lead to significant weight loss and muscle wasting, which can eventually result in heart failure. The amount of exertion it takes to breathe and keep up with normal daily activities often means an inadequate oxygen supply to the heart and other muscles.

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