Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is commonly known as COPD. COPD is actually a term used to describe two related diseases: chronic bronchitis and emphysema. In both conditions, there is a chronic obstruction of airflow through the airways and out of the lungs. This obstruction is permanent and typically worsens progressively over time. Although COPD includes two distinct diseases, most patients exhibit features of both, which is why a single term is used.
A study published in the online journal Thorax (October 2006) reported that one in four smokers will develop COPD, a higher figure than previously believed. The findings came from the Copenhagen City Heart Study, which followed approximately 8,000 Danish adults between the ages of 30 and 60 for 25 years.
Over the course of the study, 100% of male and 90% of female non-smokers maintained normal lung function. Among smokers, however, only 70% of women and 60% of men had healthy lung function at the end of the 25-year period. Approximately 25% of smokers developed moderate to severe COPD during the study. Regular smokers were six times more likely to develop COPD than non-smokers.
During the 25-year follow-up, 2,900 participants died. Of those deaths, 109 were attributed to COPD—and all but two of these individuals were smokers. The encouraging finding was that the risk of developing COPD dropped significantly among participants who quit smoking at the beginning of the study.
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