Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, “Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), also called chronic obstructive lung disease, is a term that is used for two closely related diseases of the respiratory system: chronic bronchitis and emphysema. In many patients these diseases occur together, although there may be more symptoms of one than the other.” Here are some valuable resources on COPD.


American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC): This professional association’s web site includes a variety of consumer fact sheets on COPD, such as Exercising Safely with COPD, Lessening the Effects of COPD, Eating Right: Tips for the COPD Patient, and Check Your Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease I.Q.

American Lung Association&REG; Fact Sheet: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): Basic facts about what COPD is and how it is treated.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: An informative booklet from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that explains what COPD and its components are. Separate chapters cover causes, diagnosis, treatment, coping, and research.

COPD – What is it?: A fact sheet from the Emphysema Foundation that describes what COPD is, and how it is diagnosed and treated.

The COPD Advocate (Bill Horden’s Home Page): The home page of a long-term COPD patient, Hordon’s site includes his personal and practical COPD Survival Guide, a directory of pulmonary rehabilitation facilities, a nutrition guide, an extensive list of web resources, a mailing list, and lots more. While we look upon personal sites about medical issues with concern, this one is viewed favorably by a wide variety of authoritative medical sites.

COPD-Support: This “Family of COPD Support Programs” encompasses a variety of online resources (including numerous listservs, chat rooms, forums and more) that are intended to provide support, education, and idea-sharing for people with COPD and their caregivers. Links and related information are also included.

Note: A great deal of additional information about COPD can be found on Internet sites specifically concerned with chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema. We do not currently have pages on these individual diseases; however, we recommend starting with some of the sites on our Health and Medical – General page.

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