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Asthma and COPD

COPD is an obstructive airway disease as is asthma. In fact early in COPD development, your symptoms may be very similar to those seen in asthma, and you may be misdiagnosed with asthma. However asthma and COPD differ in many ways. COPD is usually caused by cigarette smoking while asthma is not caused by smoking, although it will be worsened by smoking. Asthma is frequently associated with allergy while COPD is not. Asthma is usually highly responsive to medications and avoiding symptom triggers usually reverses airway obstruction. In contrast the airway obstruction in COPD rarely shows much reversibility with treatment. However the progression of COPD may be stopped or slowed down with smoking cessation. An allergist or pulmonologist can tell the difference between asthma and COPD and offer appropriate treatment.

Finally asthma and COPD can coexist. If you have asthma and smoke cigarettes for years, it would not be unusual for you also to develop COPD. In this case, both diseases must be treated at the same time.