Often, patients live with mild COPD for several decades before the disease progresses to moderate or severe. However, each patient is unique. Although it is not as common, some COPD cases quickly progress from mild to moderate in just a few months.
The symptoms will usually get gradually worse over time and make daily activities increasingly difficult, although treatment can help slow the progression. Sometimes there may be periods when your symptoms get suddenly worse – known as a flare-up or exacerbation.
Especially if your COPD is diagnosed early, if you have mild stage COPD, and your disease is well managed and controlled, you may be able to live for 10 or even 20 years after diagnosis.
Stage 2 COPD life expectancy is 2.2 years.
Some people can live with mild or moderate COPD for decades. Other people may be diagnosed with more advanced COPD and progress to very severe disease much faster. Some of this boils down to genetics. But some of it is due to how much you smoke or smoked and the level of lung irritants you are exposed to.
Many people will live into their 70s, 80s, or 90s with COPD.” But that's more likely, he says, if your case is mild and you don't have other health problems like heart disease or diabetes. Some people die earlier as a result of complications like pneumonia or respiratory failure.
In general, COPD progresses gradually — symptoms first present as mild to moderate and slowly worsen over time. Often, patients live with mild COPD for several decades before the disease progresses to moderate or severe. However, each patient is unique.
The 5-year life expectancy for people with COPD ranges from 40% to 70%, depending on disease severity. This means that 5 years after diagnosis 40 to 70 out of 100 people will be alive. For severe COPD, the 2-year survival rate is just 50%.
There is no cure for COPD, and the damaged airways don't regenerate. However, there are things you can do to slow progress of the disease, improve your symptoms, stay out of hospital and live longer.
There's currently no cure for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but treatment can help slow the progression of the condition and control the symptoms.
COPD is most commonly diagnosed after the age of 40,6 but it can happen at any time.
Your physician will determine your stage based on results from a breathing test called a spirometry, which assesses lung function by measuring how much air you can breathe in and out and how quickly and easily you can exhale. They will also consider the severity of your symptoms and the frequency of flare-ups.
If you smoke, quitting is the single most important thing you can do to improve your health, lung function and slow the progression of your COPD. If you continue to smoke, this will affect your health and respiratory symptoms, so the sooner you quit, the better your chances of living well with COPD.
When a person has stage 1 COPD, their symptoms may be so mild that they do not even realize that they have it. Over time, symptoms can include shortness of breath, chronic cough, and frequent respiratory infections. These will generally become more severe as the condition progresses.
COPD is a chronic and progressive disease. While it is possible to slow progress and reduce symptoms, it is impossible to cure the disease, and it will gradually worsen over time.
When COPD gets worse it is called an exacerbation (ex-zass-er-BAY-shun). During an exacerbation you may suddenly feel short of breath, or your cough may get worse. You may also cough up phlegm, and it may be thicker than normal or an unusual color.
COPD has been found to be associated with increased sudden cardiac death (SCD) risk in the community.
FEV1 is a strong predictor of survival in people with COPD. Those with severe airway obstruction on long-term oxygen therapy have low survival rates (roughly 70% to year one, 50% to year two, and 43% to year three).