About 80% of COPD cases are caused by smoking. How this process takes place is not yet known. Eventually 10-20% of all smokers get COPD. It is not predictable who gets COPD. Evidence suggests that the greater the amount an duration of smoking, the greater the risk of getting COPD.
Someone with COPD is particularly affected by chronic breathlessness/ wheezing, chronic (smokers) cough, and excessive saliva production. In some patients the course of the infection is rather mild, in others there may be a rapidly worsening picture. Sometimes the patient is so short of breath that daily activities such as dressing and taking a walk, become almost impossible. The disease can therefore be seriously disabling.
