COPD flare-ups
COPD weakens your lungs, making it harder for your body to fight off colds or protect itself from smoke or air pollution damage. Over time, you may notice your symptoms get worse because of certain triggers, such as smells, cold air, or poor air quality. Or your symptoms may get worse because of a cold, flu, or lung infection. This sudden worsening of symptoms is called a flare-up or an exacerbation.
During a flare-up, you may have a much harder time catching your breath. You may also have chest tightness, more coughing, changes in the color or amount of your sputum (spit), and a fever.
Call your doctor right away if your symptoms worsen suddenly. They may prescribe antibiotics to treat an infection, along with other medicines, such as bronchodilators and inhaled or oral steroids, to help you breathe. Some severe symptoms may require treatment in a hospital.
How serious a flare-up is depends on the amount of lung damage you have. If you keep smoking, the damage will occur faster than if you stop smoking. Take steps to keep yourself healthy to help prevent a flare-up.
When to Call a Doctor
These symptoms can mean that you have an infection or your COPD is getting worse. Call your doctor within 24 hours if you notice:
You’re out of breath or coughing more than usual.
Being out of breath affects your daily routine.
You’re coughing up more gunk than normal. The gunk is yellow, green, or rust-colored.
You have a fever over 101 F.
You feel dizzy or lightheaded.
Call 911 or go to the emergency room if you’re still out of breath after using the medicines your doctor has prescribed for your COPD.
What Causes COPD?
Over time, exposure to irritants that damage your lungs and airways can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The main cause of COPD is smoking, but nonsmokers can get COPD too.
Smoking
About 85 to 90 percent of all COPD cases are caused by cigarette smoking. When a cigarette burns, it creates more than 7,000 chemicals, many of which are harmful. The toxins in cigarette smoke weaken your lungs’ defense against infections, narrow air passages, cause swelling in air tubes and destroy air sacs—all contributing factors for COPD.
Your Environment
What you breathe every day at work, home and outside can play a role in developing COPD. Long-term exposure to air pollution, secondhand smoke and dust, fumes and chemicals (which are often work-related) can cause COPD.
Alpha-1 Deficiency
A small number of people have a rare form of COPD called alpha-1 deficiency-related emphysema. This form of COPD is caused by a genetic (inherited) condition that affects the body’s ability to produce a protein (Alpha-1) that protects the lungs.
COPD Risk Factors
Smoking is the biggest risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It increases your risk of both developing and dying from COPD. Approximately 85 to 90 percent of COPD cases are caused by smoking. Female smokers are nearly 13 times as likely to die from COPD as women who have never smoked; male smokers are nearly 12 times as likely to die from COPD as men who have never smoked.
Other risk factors for COPD include:
- Exposure to air pollution
- Breathing secondhand smoke
- Working with chemicals, dust and fumes
- A genetic condition called Alpha-1 deficiency
- A history of childhood respiratory infection
