What is COPD?

COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a chronic disease that makes it difficult for people to breathe. COPD is a progressive disease, meaning the disease gets worse over time. COPD results in cough that may or may not produce mucus, as well as wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. COPD also causes significant extrapulmonary effects such as weakened bones, skeletal muscle, and even depression.

To understand COPD, it helps to understand how the lungs work. The air that you breathe goes down your windpipe into tubes in your lungs called bronchial tubes, or airways.

The airways and air sacs are called alveoli. When you breathe in, each air sac fills up with air like a small balloon. When you breathe out, the air sac deflates and the air goes out.

In COPD, less air flows in and out of the airways because of the damage to the alveoli.

Most people who have COPD have both emphysema and chronic obstructive bronchitis. Thus, the general term "COPD" is more accurate.

[Excerpt taken from National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.]

COPD has been shown to have a significant impact on healthcare costs, disability, and lost productivity. In some cases, medical costs for employee's with COPD were as much as 3 times greater than others [AHDB. 2009;2(4):198-200.]. The cost of treating COPD patients can be high for several reasons, including the frequency that certain COPD patients are hospitalized, the cost of medication and treatment, and the cost of treating flare-ups, or exacerbations. Because of the debilitating effects COPD, such as shortness of breath, employee's may have difficulty or be unable to complete certain tasks, especially anything that may involve some level of physical activity, which can result in lost productivity. Lost productivity can also be measured by how often the employee is unable to come to work for medical reasons attributed to COPD, or absenteeism. According to the article "Health and Productivity as a Business Strategy: A Multiemployer Study" in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, COPD is one of the strongest predictors of absenteeism for employees. As a result, employees with COPD often result in a significant loss of productivity.