COPD and asthma are lung ailments. Asthma and COPD can both give rise to similar symptoms, and are sometimes treated with the same medicines. Both conditions can lead to variable breathlessness, wheezy breathing, coughing, and mucus production. Some medicines prescribed for the treatment of asthma, such as inhaled β2 agonists, corticosteroid inhalers, and theophylline, for example, are also used in COPD treatment.
Asthma and the conditions caused by COPD may also demonstrate a similar pattern of abnormality on the pulmonary function test called spirometry. That similar pattern of abnormality is called obstructive dysfunction. To a pulmonologist involved in direct patient care, COPD and asthma are completely different. The single most common cause of COPD is cigarette smoking. COPD is a disease of mid- to late-adulthood. It is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, and it is a significant cause of lifestyle limitation reflecting its chronic and progressive nature. COPD affects different sites in the lung than does asthma, involving both the lung tissue and the airways.
COPD’s obstructive dysfunction on spirometry is “fixed” or “irreversible” as mentioned. Asthma has a genetic basis and is often seen in persons who also carry a diagnosis of allergy. It affects all ages and is frequently diagnosed in children. The diagnosis of asthma is compatible with a long and full life and the prognosis is excellent. Asthma targets the lung airways. By definition, the obstructive dysfunction demonstrated on pulmonary function tests in asthma is reversible such that lung function has the potential to fully normalize.