What Do COPD Symptoms Look Like?

COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a long-term lung disease that makes breathing hard. Its main symptoms are shortness of breath, a lasting cough and mucus (sputum), according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. A breathing test called spirometry confirms it. This page is general information from public sources, not a diagnosis.

What is COPD, and what does the name mean?

HealthLinkBC describes COPD as a lung disease that makes it hard to breathe. The Public Health Agency of Canada calls it an umbrella term that covers chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Health Canada adds that someone diagnosed with either of those is considered to have COPD. For detail on each, see our pages on emphysema and chronic bronchitis, or the lung diseases overview.

What are the main symptoms of COPD?

The Public Health Agency of Canada lists three: shortness of breath, cough and sputum production. Health Canada puts breathlessness first, saying the main symptom is shortness of breath while doing everyday activities, along with frequent coughing and excess phlegm. The agency adds that breathlessness can limit daily activity and reduce quality of life as the disease advances.

In daily life that can look like:

• Getting winded on stairs, on a walk or while carrying groceries
• A cough that keeps coming back or never fully clears
• Bringing up phlegm
• Frequent airway infections, which a peer-reviewed diagnostic review lists among the signs clinicians ask at-risk patients about

The same review says cough, breathlessness, reduced physical capacity or frequent airway infections in a smoker should raise suspicion of COPD. That is a reason to get tested, not a conclusion.

Are there early signs versus advanced signs?

The government pages we opened do not split symptoms into early and advanced lists, so we do not either. What they do say is still useful. The Public Health Agency of Canada says symptoms do not usually appear in people younger than 55, although lung changes begin years earlier. Health Canada calls COPD slowly progressing. HealthLinkBC says that over time it may lead to severe shortness of breath and heart problems.

A flare-up, which HealthLinkBC calls a COPD exacerbation, is a time when symptoms suddenly get much worse. In an emergency, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number. For grading by lung function, see COPD stages and smoking.

How is COPD diagnosed?

Through spirometry. HealthLinkBC describes it as a test that measures how much air your lungs can move in and out and at what rate. You seal your lips around a mouthpiece connected to a recording device, then blow out as hard, fast and completely as possible. It can be done in a doctor’s office or hospital and is not painful.

The peer-reviewed review says spirometry usually suffices to document impaired airflow. It also notes that routine spirometry screening of people with no symptoms, such as all smokers over 40, is not recommended in current guidelines, while people with a chronic cough should have lung function testing. A clinician decides whether you need a test, so describe your symptoms early.

How does smoking connect to COPD?

Closely. The Public Health Agency of Canada says cigarette smoking is the main underlying cause in 80% to 90% of COPD cases. Other contributors it names include workplace dust and fumes, second-hand smoke, outdoor air pollution, childhood respiratory infections and alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, an inherited protein shortage.

Health Canada reports that people who smoke and have COPD are 22 to 26 times more likely to die from it than people who do not smoke, and that more than 2 million Canadians aged 35 and older had diagnosed COPD in 2015-2016. It also says many more cases likely go undiagnosed. To see how the damage builds, read smoker’s lungs versus healthy lungs. The pack-year calculator can put a number on your smoking history.

When should I get checked?

If breathlessness, a cough or phlegm has lasted and you smoke or used to, book an appointment and describe it. Our guide to smoker’s cough and when to see a doctor covers the cough side. Long-term smokers who also worry about cancer can check the lung screening eligibility rules and read about lung cancer symptoms, since the two diseases can share a cough. If breathing becomes an emergency, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number.

What does quitting do for COPD?

Health Canada calls quitting smoking the single most effective step to prevent further lung damage and slow COPD. It says the risk of COPD begins to decline after you stop, symptoms such as chronic cough often improve, and quitting reduces the risk of dying from COPD at any age. HealthLinkBC agrees that the best way to slow COPD is to stop smoking, while noting it can’t be cured. Start with our quit smoking hub or free quit help by province.

What we could not confirm

• Vaping and COPD. The Canadian government pages we opened describe the link between cigarette smoking and COPD. They give no COPD figures for vaping, so we give none.
• A list of early signs. None of the official pages we opened ranks which symptom comes first.
• Wheezing and chest tightness. These are often mentioned elsewhere, but the sources above do not list them, so we left them out.
• Timing for seeing a doctor about a cough. The HealthLinkBC pages we opened give no COPD-specific timing, only the general emergency instruction.