Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the name for a collection of lung diseases including chronic bronchitis, emphysema and chronic obstructive airways disease.
People with COPD have difficulties breathing, primarily due to the narrowing of their airways, this is called airflow obstruction.
Typical symptoms of COPD include:
increasing breathlessness when active
a persistent cough with phlegm
frequent chest infection.
The NHS says around 900,000 people in the UK have been diagnosed with COPD and about two million people have the condition but have not been diagnosed. COPD causes 25,000 deaths a year.
