COPD
COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and is a disease affecting the lungs whereby the bronchial tree becomes narrowed, causing shortness of breath, wheezing and asthma-like symptoms. The blockage of the airways is only partially reversible with medications like bronchodilators.  The disease gradually worsens over time.
The causes of COPD include the chronic inhalation of noxious particles, most likely from cigarette smoking.  It is often related to the disease of chronic bronchitis, which involves a cough and production of sputum.  The inflammatory response results in the wreckage of tissue in a lung process we know of as emphysema. COPD is generally a come-and-go disease that is identified by acute exacerbations interspersed with times of improved disease.  It often gets worse when the individual is exposed to infectious disease or pollution in the air. 
Diagnosing COPD involves doing pulmonary lung function studies to assess the airways, listening to the lungs for wheezing or rhonchi and doing a chest XRAY to assess the appearance of the lungs.   COPD is common and is the sixth leading cause of death.  It is projected to be the third most leading cause of death by 2020 due to an increase in smoking behaviors by the nation’s young people. 
Signs and Symptom
Most people with COPD have serious shortness of breath and they constantly feel out of breath.  The shortness of breath gradually worsens so that even a little bit of activity makes them feel short of breath.  Other symptoms include a prolonged cough, wheezing and sputum production.  The chest feels tight and the individual feels tired all the time.  Very severe COPD can lead to respiratory failure and death.  Patients are bluish in color and have headaches and twitching from a lack of oxygen.  One of the complications of COPD is called cor pulmonale where there is high blood pressure in the lungs.  Another symptom is edema of the lower legs.  
On examination, the doctor will notice a rapid breathing rate, wheezing sounds or crackles in the lungs, breathing that takes longer to breathe out than breathe in, an enlargement of the chest cavity, the use of accessory muscles to breathe and needing to breathe through pursed lips. 
Causes
By far and away, the greatest risk factor for the development of COPD is chronic smoking.  In fact, 80-90 percent of cases of COPD are due to smoking history.  Continuous cigarette smokers run a 25 percent chance of getting COPD after 25 years.  Secondhand smoke can be a big factor as well.  In less common cases, coal mining, gold mining and the textile industry play a role in getting COPD.  Welding can cause it. Smokers who are also exposed to the occupational dusts are at a great risk for developing COPD.  A minor silica dust exposure can trigger the disease of COPD. 
It’s been found that those who live in cities where air pollution is a factor have a higher risk of developing COPD. In poorer countries that have indoor cooking smoke, COPD can become a factor. 
Genetics plays a role in COPD in that not everyone who smokes gets COPD. This means there is a genetic factor in play regarding who gets COPD and who doesn’t.  Relatives of those with COPD are more likely to get the disease themselves.  People who suffer from alpha 1-antitrypsin disease are more likely to get COPD.  There are other, unknown, genes related to COPD.
There is evidence to suggest that some cases of COPD are actually autoimmune diseases.  It seems to occur in patients who have quit smoking for a long period of time and who develop active inflammation in their lungs.  The inflammation is felt to be connected to autoantibodies in the body. 
Treatment
There is no cure for COPD but the disease itself is preventable and quite treatable.  Treatment includes reducing risk factors (smoking).  There can be changes in occupational exposure to COPD contaminants. Air pollution can be reduced.  Treatment is addressed at bronchodilators, including beta-agonists and anticholinergic agents.    Corticosteroids are used to reduce inflammation and in some cases, theophylline is used to treat certain cases of COPD.   
One method of treatment is to use the antioxidant glutathione, which is diminished in many forms of lung disease. The dose is given by means of bronchioalveolar lavage.