COPD 101: A Guide to Educate and Spread Awareness

November is COPD Awareness Month. What better way to honor this important time than by helping our community members to spread awareness through education?

If you have COPD, you may have tried to explain to friends, loved ones, caregivers, or other people in your life what COPD is and how it impacts you. Without the lived experience, it may be difficult for someone to understand. Although they may never fully understand the impact that COPD has had on your life, sharing some resources can help paint a clearer picture.

We've compiled some of our top informational articles and firsthand experiences with COPD to create a guide that you can share with others, helping to spread awareness and knowledge about COPD.

If you've been sent this article by a loved one, please take the time to read through the sections and click on articles that can educate you on the basics of the condition, as well as the emotional and physical impact it may be having on your loved one.

Understanding the basics of COPD

We understand that a doctor explaining COPD may include a lot of medical jargon that is hard to follow or understand, especially when you or a loved one is in the midst of a diagnosis. Searching for information online may also be confusing. Here are some basics of COPD all in one easy-to-access place:

• What Is COPD?
• What Are The Stages of COPD?
• What Are Causes and Common Risk Factors of COPD?

Symptoms

Here are some symptoms that someone who has COPD may experience. Having a better understanding of symptoms can help you to support them and what they may be feeling:

• What Are Common Symptoms of COPD?
• What Are Early Warning Signs of COPD?
• An Overview of Complications and Comorbidities of COPD

Testing and diagnosis

A person with COPD may be nervous about some of the testing that they may have to undergo. Here is some information about the testing and diagnosis process that people may experience. Having this information may help you to support them through any anxiety they may be having, understand something they've gone through, or ask questions that they can ask their doctors:

• How Is COPD Diagnosed?
• Diagnosing COPD: Blood Tests
• Diagnosing COPD: Breathing Tests

Treatment

You may be wondering about the types of treatment options that a person with COPD has. Learn more about the possible treatment of COPD in these articles:

• How Is COPD Treated?
• Medications for COPD
• Supplemental Oxygen Therapy
• Surgery for COPD
• Alternative Therapies or Natural Remedies for COPD

Living with COPD: The impact

People with COPD experience physical and emotional changes that they have to endure. Their lives are impacted in many ways, including their daily routines, diets, relationships, and even simple things like showering – just to name a few. Read about some of the lifestyle changes people with COPD sometimes have to make:

• Lifestyle Changes With COPD
• Long-term Oxygen Use and COPD
• Impact on Personal Relationships
• Showering With COPD

Support

Support is one of the most important parts of a person's journey with COPD. Support can be shown in many different ways, from many different people.

Some helpful articles about support for everyone impacted by COPD are:

• How to Support Someone With COPD
• Educating and Supporting COPD Patients
• A Guide to Community Support and Daily Living
• 8 Tips to Help People Understand COPD
• Where Caregivers Can Go for Support

Chances are, if you are seeing this article, you are already supporting or interested in supporting someone with COPD. Two ways you can support someone who has COPD are by educating yourself on the condition and being there as a shoulder to lean on. Our community is here to help you do both.