Treatment

There is no cure for COPD; however, COPD is often preventable. The lung damage caused by COPD is irreversible, but can be slowed down. The most important step you can take is to quit smoking or limit outside exposure to prevent further damage to the lungs and slow down the progression of the disease. Treatment of COPD generally focuses on improving quality of life and slowing the progression of the disease.

Quitting smoking
Quitting Smoking

For those who smoke, the most important way to treat COPD is to quit smoking, if you still currently smoke. If you don't quit smoking, tobacco smoke will continue to damage the lungs and will make the disease worse. The sooner you stop, the better, to prevent symptoms from getting worse.

Pulmonary rehabilitation
Pulmonary Rehabilitation

The doctor may recommend pulmonary rehabilitation to improve your symptoms and quality of life, and help you stay active. Pulmonary rehabilitation may include education about the lungs and COPD, breathing exercises, and light exercise to help you stay active and reduce shortness of breath and fatigue.

Shortness of Breath
Shortness of Breath
Medication

The doctor may recommend certain medications that help you breathe more easily. You may have maintenance medications and rescue medications. Maintenance medications are long-acting medications that are taken regularly to help you breathe more easily. Rescue medications are taken when you experience exacerbations or severe symptoms to open up the airways and treat flare-ups.

  • Antibiotics: With COPD, you may have occasional flare-ups caused by bacterial or viral infections. Infections such as pneumonia and influenza are more common with COPD, and can make COPD symptoms worse. The doctor may recommend long-term antibiotics to prevent infections and reduce flare-ups. Antibiotics will also be recommended to treat these infections, if they should occur.
  • Bronchodilators: Bronchodilators are medications that open up narrow and constricted airways. These medications relax the muscles around the airways, making it easier to breathe and relieving symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breath. The doctor may recommend long-term, maintenance bronchodilators, as well as fast-acting bronchodilators to be used only in the event of exacerbations or flare-ups.
  • Corticosteroid inhaler: Inhaled corticosteroids are medications that help reduce inflammation and mucus production in the airways and help prevent flare-ups. These medications are primarily used only during exacerbations, as they can have severe side-effects.
Vaccines
Vaccines

The doctor may recommend vaccines for flu and pneumonia. People with COPD are at higher risk for these infections, and they can be more severe and lead to exacerbations in people with COPD.

Oxygen Therapy

Oxygen Therapy

The doctor may recommend supplemental oxygen therapy for people with severe COPD and low blood-oxygen levels. Oxygen therapy helps get enough oxygen into the blood stream to meet the body's requirements. This can help improve symptoms such as fatigue and shortness of breath, and give the patient enough oxygen to get through daily activities. In those with severe COPD, oxygen therapy can help prevent more serious complications such as heart failure. The oxygen is delivered through tubes in the nose or a mask that goes over the nose and mouth.

Surgery
Surgery

In some severe cases, the doctor may recommend a lung reduction surgery or lung transplant. In a lung reduction surgery, the diseased and damaged parts of the lung apexes are removed. This helps reduce the volume of damaged lung tissue and create more space in the chest so the remaining, healthy lung tissue works more effectively. In a lung transplant, one or both diseased lungs are replaced with healthy lungs from a donor.