According to the official definition, COPD is “a pathological condition of the respiratory system characterized by chronic and partially reversible airflow obstruction to which bronchial (chronic bronchitis), bronchiolar, (small airway disease) and parenchyma (pulmonary emphysema) changes contribute to varying degrees.”
This means that in COPD sufferers, the airways are partially obstructed, persistently, and do not allow efficient passage of air to and from the lungs, resulting in “shortness of breath” and a reactive cough.
COPD is a complex disease that tends to evolve into stages of increasing severity, alternating between periods of relative stability and phases of accelerated decline, corresponding to so-called “flare-ups.”
By definition, a COPD flare-up is characterized by a rapid and consistent worsening of typical symptoms (respiratory distress, cough, and phlegm) that exceeds the normal daily variability of the disease and is such that a change in therapy is required to be compensated.
