Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, going by the household name of COPD, is a chronic condition. This condition is faced about approximately 24 million users till the current date. The primary organ affected by this disease is the lungs, the breathing capacity of the lungs drops significantly as their condition starts to deteriorate. The life expectancy in COPD is very subjective and usually, depends on the stage of the disease. Unfortunately, the cure for this disease has not been found yet.
COPD usually goes through can differ according to the patient; it goes through either emphysema or chronic bronchitis. Even though both these conditions are different, they are associated with restricting airflow to the lungs and making breathing a difficult activity.
Let’s look at the life expectancy with COPD.
- When we talk about the progression of COPD and the life expectancy of the patient suffering from it, there is an underlying fact that this condition has no cure. In this case, death is inevitable, the life expectancy is dependent on the medication and in most cases, the willpower and mental strength of the patient.
- COPD, is a condition that gropes the sufferer and life expectancy is very limited; there is no straightforward answer to the question. The life expectancy in COPD depends on more than one factor, like the overall health of the patient, occurrence of other medical conditions, habits like smoking or alcoholism, lifestyle, and frequency of tedious activities.
- The best bet for most sufferers of COPD to gauge their life expectancy is to rely on the GOLD system. This is a system developed by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease; it helps in tracking the progression of COPD with four stages. The stages are as mentioned below:
- Stage 1 very mild COPD
- Stage 2 moderate COPD
- Stage 3 severe emphysema/chronic bronchitis
- Stage 4 very severe COPD
Every stage has its own impact on the sufferer, the potency of the impact increase with the progression in the stage. The higher the stage, the shorter the life expectancy.
- The BODE index is another way of measuring COPD life expectancy. BODE stands for Body-mass index, airflow Obstruction, Dyspnea, and Exercise. The doctors use this method to keep track of the stages and suffering of the patient.
- According to most results, the doctors have found out that patients that quit smoking even after being diagnosed with COPD have a higher life expectancy than current or ongoing smokers.