COPD

COPD Treatment

Manage Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) effectively with InstantScripts. Request a customised prescription to alleviate symptoms and improve your quality of life.

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dr-sarah

Dr. Sarah Cavanagh Chief Medical Officer InstantScripts

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Treatment options

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What is COPD?

Is asthma the same as COPD?

Asthma and COPD both involve blockage of your airways, but they are different.

For most people with asthma, medicines can widen your airways and help your breathing get back to normal. However, if you have chronic asthma (a type of asthma where medicines don't work as well to help your breathing go back to normal), this is considered part of COPD.

There is also a condition called 'asthma-COPD overlap'. This is where someone has symptoms of both asthma and COPD. It usually causes worse symptoms than either condition on its own and needs different treatment.

What are the symptoms of COPD?

If you are in the earliest stages of COPD, you may not have any symptoms.

When symptoms appear, they may include:

  • feeling breathless

  • a persistent cough

  • producing a lot of phlegm (mucus)

  • tiredness

  • chest infections that occur more often and take longer to get better

Symptoms come on gradually. At first, you might think you are just unfit or getting older. As time goes on, symptoms get worse and interfere more with your daily activities.

What causes COPD?

The most common cause of COPD is smoking. One in every 4 or 5 people who smoke will develop COPD. You are still at risk if you have smoked in the past.

Other causes include:

  • passive smoking — especially if your parents smoked when you were young

  • exposure to pollution, fumes and dust

  • lung problems in childhood

  • asthma

  • a rare genetic condition called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

When should I see a doctor?

See your doctor if you notice you are getting short of breath with less effort.

It's a good idea to see your doctor to check your lungs if you are over 35 years old and you have ever smoked or been exposed to fumes and dust at work.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to a group of long-term lung conditions that make it difficult to breathe and get worse over time. It includes emphysema, chronic bronchitis and chronic asthma.