How can you manage your COPD symptoms?

From the Medical News Today website

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disease that causes difficulty breathing. There are many treatment options for COPD, including lifestyle changes and pulmonary rehabilitation to manage symptoms.

Doctors will diagnose COPD with spirometry, body plethysmography, or lung diffusion testing, which are all tests of lung functioning.

Spirometry measures the speed and amount of air a person can push through their airways. Body plethysmography measures the volume of air in their lungs after a deep breath and after a full exhalation. Lung diffusion testing measures how well their lungs deliver oxygen to and remove carbon dioxide from their blood.

People with COPD may have typical lung capacity but a reduced ability to push air out of their lungs on the spirometry test. A doctor will consider these results and other symptoms when giving a COPD diagnosis.

COPD often requires lifelong treatment. Read on to learn more about how to manage symptoms of COPD.