Asthma And COPD - What's The Difference?

Asthma and COPD are not the same thing, even though their symptoms - and their damaging effects on your ability to breathe - often resemble each other.

Asthma and COPD are both forms of lung disease, and either can cause severe respiratory problems. When you have either asthma or COPD, you are likely to experience wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and coughing. But there are significant differences when you look at their causes, and the age when they are most likely to appear.

Asthma causes smaller airways in the lungs to become more narrow than they should be, which in turn causes asthma symptoms. Furthermore asthma is often diagnosed during childhood or adolescence. although it can happen at any time during your life. As you grow older, asthma symptoms may become less noticeable and may also occur less often. Genetics may play a role too - this disorder generally runs in families.

COPD, however, is a disease that occurs in adults - especially those who have reached middle age and have smoked cigarettes for a long time. Many individuals who have COPD are still smoking at the time of their diagnosis.

There are some other differences that help you tell the difference between asthma and COPD. When you have an asthma attack, it's often the result of external factors over which you have little or no control. Typically, these would be allergens, exercise, pollutants or even cold air. COPD symptoms are usually generated inside the respiratory system itself, and often occur due to some kind of respiratory infection.

COPD and asthma also affect the air passages in different ways. Asthma sufferers often have no symptoms or few symptoms between their attacks, which are also known as exacerbations or episodes. But those with COPD experience symptoms that present themselves consistently, day after day. Symptoms usually continue even when the COPD sufferer stops smoking or uses a bronchodilator to ease their breathing difficulties.

COPD, which stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a general term which includes several lung diseases. Two of these diseases are well-known and, unfortunately, fairly common: emphysema and chronic bronchitis. A third form is a condition called chronic asthmatic bronchitis, which is a type of asthma that can be especially persistent. There is very little that can be done to relieve the symptoms of chronic asthmatic bronchitis. Like chronic bronchitis and emphysema, it can be caused by smoking, genetic susceptibility, or excessive exposure to pollutants like dust at home or in the workplace.

Smoking can be dangerous even for those who don't smoke cigarettes themselves. Children who are raised in homes where either or both parents smoke have a statistically higher risk of developing COPD when they get older.