Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a serious lung disease that over time makes it hard to breathe. It kills more people in the UK each year than either bowel, breast or prostate cancer. COPD is an umbrella term for a number of lung diseases including chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
If you don’t know what COPD is, you’re not alone, a lot of people haven’t heard of it. However, it is more common than you may think; in the UK it is estimated there are over 2 million people who have COPD but don’t know it.
References: British Lung Foundation. Invisible lives - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): Finding the missing millions. 2007; Office of National Statistics. (ONS) VS3 mortality by cause - registrations to 2011 boundaries; Department of Health. An outcomes strategy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma in England.