This website has been initiated and funded by the biopharmaceutical company, Chiesi Ltd. This website is for UK residents only.
For further information and advice on COPD, please contact your healthcare professional.

What is COPD?

COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It’s a common lung condition that makes it harder to breathe out quickly.¹

COPD happens when your lungs become inflamed and damaged and your airways narrow. COPD makes it harder for air to move in and out of your lungs (your airflow is obstructed), so you become breathless.¹

COPD Definition¹

Chronic

It’s a long-term condition

Obstructive

Your airways are narrowed

Pulmonary

It affects your lungs

Disease

It’s a medical condition

COPD is the term used to describe two main lung conditions:

Chronic bronchitis

Bronchitis means your airways are inflamed and narrowed. Bronchitis can be a short-term (acute) infection. If you have COPD, your bronchitis is long-term (chronic). In chronic bronchitis, the airways in your lungs create a lot of phlegm (mucus). This means you can develop a long-term cough and breathing problems. Chronic bronchitis can be managed, but it cannot be cured.²

Emphysema

This affects the tiny air sacs in the lungs (called alveoli), where oxygen is passed into the blood. These air sacs become damaged and break down, which traps air inside the lungs and makes breathing more difficult.³

What causes COPD?

COPD is primarily caused by damage to the lungs, and swelling and inflammation in the airways, but there are several things that can increase the chances of getting COPD, including:^1,4

Smoking — the most common cause, including being around second-hand smoke (around 9 out of 10 cases of COPD are linked to smoking cigarettes)

Breathing in harmful substances at work, such as dust, fumes or chemicals

Indoor air pollution — in some homes, wood or coal is used for cooking or heating, which produces a lot of smoke

Health problems early in life, like being born early, having poor growth before birth, or chest infections in childhood that affect lung development

Asthma in childhood

A rare genetic condition called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, which can lead to COPD at a younger age

Remember that not everyone with these risk factors will get COPD, but they do make it more likely.⁴

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Can COPD be cured?

COPD is a long-term condition with no current cure, but there are many ways to feel better and stay active. If you smoke, quitting is the best thing you can do.⁴

In your treatment plan for COPD, you may be offered:⁵

Medicines (usually inhalers) to help you breathe more easily

Pulmonary rehabilitation – a programme with exercises and advice

Oxygen therapy if your oxygen levels are low

Vaccines like the flu and pneumonia jabs to help prevent chest infections

For more information about the treatment and management of COPD, click here.

Want to discuss the definition and causes of COPD at your next appointment? Why not add this to your discussion list?

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Abbreviations:

COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

References:

Asthma + Lung UK. What is COPD? Available at: https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/conditions/copd-chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease/what-copd. Accessed November 2025.
Asthma + Lung UK. Chronic Bronchitis. Available at: https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/conditions/copd-chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease/chronic-bronchitis. Accessed November 2025.
Asthma + Lung UK. Emphysema. Available at: https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/conditions/copd-chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease/emphysema. Accessed November 2025.
WHO. COPD. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-(copd). Accessed November 2025.
Asthma and Lung UK. Treatments and medicines for COPD. Available at: https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/conditions/copd-chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease/what-are-treatments-copd. Accessed November 2025.

UK-RES-2501767 | November 2025