If you’ve been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease  (COPD), it’s important to stop smoking.

COPD is a disease that makes it hard to breathe, and it gets worse over time. It can make other illness very serious and lead to major complications. If you quit smoking, it can slow the progress of COPD.

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of COPD, but about 25 percent of people with COPD never smoked. Long-term exposure to other lung irritants, like chemicals or air pollution, may also be a factor. Millions of Americans have been diagnosed with COPD. And many more may have the disease and not know it. That’s because COPD develops slowly. Symptoms often worsen over time and can limit your ability to do routine activities, like walking or housework.

COPD has no cure, but treatments and changing your habits can help you feel better and stay more active.

Testing for COPD

If you have a cough that doesn’t go away, let your doctor know. Tell them how long you've had it, how much you cough, and how much mucus comes up when you cough. If you have a family history of COPD, make sure your doctor knows.

Your doctor will examine you and listen for wheezing or other abnormal chest sounds. They may recommend one or more tests to diagnose COPD. 

One common test for COPD is spirometry. It’s a painless test. A technician asks you to take a deep breath in. Next, you'll blow as hard as you can into a tube connected to a small machine. The machine is called a spirometer.

The machine measures how much air you breathe out. It also measures how fast you can blow air out. You may be given medicine to inhale before the test is repeated, so results can be compared.

Spirometry can detect COPD before you show signs of the illness. Your doctor also might use the test to find out how bad your COPD is and to help plan your treatment.

The test results also may help find out whether another illness, like asthma or heart failure, is causing your health problems.

Sources: About COPD,  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024; COPD,  National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health (NHLBI), 2023; Pulmonary Function Tests,  NHLBI