Asthma And COPD, An Introduction

An introduction to obstructive lung disease, including definitions of asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and COPD, and a paradigm of how the diseases all relate to one another.

There are two types of obstructive lung diseases, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Asthma is characterised by normal lung function in most asthmatic people when not having an asthma attack, whereas people with COPD never have a normal lung function, they have chronic obstruction. Neither asthma nor COPD are clearly defined diseases, they represent two different groups of diseases in which the symptoms may vary.

In the case of asthma, there is usually a great sensitivity to airborne substances in the environment which as they are inhaled, give rise to irritation and asthma symptoms such as cough, whistling breathing sounds (wheezing) and shortness of breath. People with COPD may also experience problems when they inhale irritating substances, but often not to the same degree as the asthmatics.

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