Read up on Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment options at Consumer Reports Health.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Key points about treatments

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disease that's usually caused by smoking.

If you have COPD and smoke, the best thing you can do is quit smoking. This can help slow down how quickly the disease gets worse.

There aren't any cures for COPD, but doctors and therapists can do a lot to help you breathe more easily and to make you feel better.

Key messages about treating COPD

Stopping smoking is the best thing you can do for COPD.
Treatments to help you quit smoking include counseling, nicotine gum and a drug called bupropion.
Medicines that you breathe in (inhalers or nebulizer treatments) may help your lungs work better and should help you feel less breathless.
Taking two drugs that you breathe in, one to open up the airways and one to reduce

inflammation
If your skin or some other part of your body becomes red, swollen, hot or sore, we say it is inflamed. It means that your body is trying to protect you from germs, from something in your body tissues that can hurt you (like a thorn or sliver), or from things that cause allergies (allergens). Inflammation is part of the way the body heals an infection or injury.

inflammation, may also help to prevent attacks of COPD (when your symptoms suddenly get worse).
Taking a drug to break up the mucus in your lungs, so it's easier to cough up, may reduce your risk of having an attack.
If your COPD is very bad, having extra oxygen to breathe can help you live longer.

This information was last updated on Jul 14, 2009

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment.
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