Learn the symptoms of COPD, the forgotten killer

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is called the forgotten killer and is currently the fifth leading cause of death in the world. In Canada, it kills more women than breast cancer. We'll teach you about the disease and how to diagnose it.

• COPD is a collection of chronic lung diseases including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It blocks the airways and restricts oxygen flow throughout your body.
• Though the condition is linked to smoking, research is now showing that some cases of COPD are the result of wily bacteria, decades of living with asthma, or exposure to dust, fumes, and secondhand smoke.

Researchers think that COPD is more than just a disease of the lungs. In an editorial in the British medical journal The Lancet, doctors suggested that in many people, COPD is part of a cluster of conditions all related to chronic inflammation in the body. This systemic inflammation is likely responsible for the high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary artery disease, heart failure, and even cancer that tend to exist along with COPD. Researchers recommend that people who meet at least three of the following criteria be diagnosed with Chronic Systemic Inflammation Syndrome (CSIS):

• Smoking for more than 10 pack-years (smoking one pack a day for 10 years, two packs a day for 5 years, etc.)
• The symptoms and abnormal lung function of COPD
• Chronic heart failure
• Metabolic syndrome
• Increased levels of C-reactive protein, an inflammatory marker, in the bloodstream

Researchers in Great Britain have found that people with the disease develop arterial stiffness (atherosclerosis) far earlier than those without COPD. People with COPD also exhibit high levels of inflammatory chemicals in their arteries.

So what does all this mean? COPD - whether on its own or as part of a larger cluster of conditions - is a scary condition that's worth thinking about. If you're at risk of COPD or CSIS, be sure to consult your doctor right away.