Yes, COPD is considered a disability by the SSA if its symptoms or the treatment you receive to treat your COPD leaves you unable to hold a job or handle daily activities on your own.
Severe emphysema will, in most cases, be automatically approved for disability benefits if its effects reach the level of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD).
How Serious Is Your Emphysema? Stage 2 is also called moderate emphysema. But that doesn't always mean that your disease is moderate. If you're young and otherwise healthy, you could have severe lung damage and still be at stage 2.
Your Emphysema Disability Case
If Emphysema has disabled you to the extent that you are unable to work, you may well be entitled to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.
For stage II, the main treatments are: Quitting smoking and avoiding secondhand smoke. Medicine. Typically, you get drugs called bronchodilators, which make breathing easier.
Prognosis. There is no cure for emphysema. But the condition can be controlled. People with mild emphysema who quit smoking have a normal life expectancy.
Stop smoking.
This is the most important measure you can take for your overall health and the only one that might halt the progression of emphysema. Join a smoking cessation program if you need help giving up smoking. As much as possible, avoid secondhand smoke.
Because most patients aren't diagnosed until stage 2 or 3, the prognosis for emphysema is often poor, and the average life expectancy is about five years. Treatment and early detection can play a big part in slowing down the progression of emphysema.
Is COPD considered a terminal illness? COPD is not a terminal illness but a chronic disease that gets worse over time . Although there is no cure for COPD, the illness can be successfully managed especially if it's recognized early.
You can get disability benefits for COPD as long as your symptoms have progressed enough that prevent you from being able to hold a job. Qualifying is also easier if you're 50 or older because you only need to prove to the SSA that you can no longer do the jobs you've done in the past.
Stage 2 (moderate) COPD: You may experience persistent coughing and phlegm (often worse in the morning), increased shortness of breath, tiredness, sleep problems, or wheezing. About one in five people have exacerbations that worsen their symptoms and cause the color of their phlegm to change.
According to the GOLD guidelines, a person has stage 2 COPD if their FEV1 value is between 50 and 79%. FEV1 indicates the amount of air a person can forcefully exhale in 1 second as measured by a spirometry machine.
When to use oxygen for emphysema. A doctor may recommend that a person begin using oxygen therapy when their blood oxygen saturation falls below 88% or their blood oxygen level falls below 55 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) at rest.
There is no restriction for driving your own car unless you have severe attacks of breathlessness which could cause fainting/dizziness. You would then need to discuss this with your doctor/nurse.
If you have any of the following respiratory diseases, or other chronic inflammatory lung or obstructive lung diseases, you may qualify for SSDI: Chronic Respiratory Disorders (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease like chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and pulmonary fibrosis and pneumoconiosis) Asthma.
Stage 2 COPD life expectancy is 2.2 years.
Approximately 80 percent of the patients with mild emphysema lived more than four years after the diagnosis. 60 to 70 percent of patients with moderate emphysema were alive after four years. 50 percent of patients with severe emphysema were alive after four years.
Very mild, or stage 1: FEV1 is about 80% of normal. Moderate, or stage 2: FEV1 is 50–80% of normal. Severe, or stage 3: FEV1 is 30–50% of normal. Very severe, or stage 4: FEV1 is less than 30% of normal.
There is no cure for emphysema, although it is treatable. Appropriate management can reduce symptoms, improve your quality of life and help you stay out of hospital.
If you are overweight or obese with COPD, weight loss is an important aspect of treatment. Safe and effective weight loss generally requires a combination of diet and physical activity.
Emphysema is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that damages the air sacs in your lungs and makes it hard to breathe. You can't reverse emphysema damage, and it'll gradually get worse. However, you can manage the symptoms with treatment and slow down the effects of emphysema.
Emphysema continues to progress even after people stop smoking. However, quitting smoking helps reduce symptoms and improve quality of life and life expectancy.
Air pollution, chemical fumes, and dust also can make emphysema worse. Stay up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines.
How Serious Is Your Emphysema? Stage 1 is also called mild emphysema. But that doesn't mean your disease is mild. You could have significant lung damage before you even notice the breathing problems of stage 1, especially if you're relatively young and otherwise healthy.