COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)-Living With COPD
COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)-Living With COPD
When you manage COPD, you:
It's never too late to quit smoking. No matter how long you have had COPD or how serious it is, quitting smoking will help slow down the disease and improve your quality of life.
Although lung damage that already has occurred doesn't reverse, quitting smoking can slow down how quickly your COPD symptoms get worse.
You may think that nothing can help you quit. But today there are several treatments shown to be very good at helping people stop smoking. They include:
Today's medicines offer lots of help for people who want to quit. You will double your chances of quitting even if medicine is the only treatment you use to quit, but your odds get even better when you combine medicine and other quit strategies, such as counseling.9
For more information, see the topic Quitting Smoking.
- Quit smoking.
- Take steps to improve your ability to breathe.
- Eat well and stay active.
- Learn all you can about COPD.
- Get support from your family and friends.
Quit smoking
It's never too late to quit smoking. No matter how long you have had COPD or how serious it is, quitting smoking will help slow down the disease and improve your quality of life.
Although lung damage that already has occurred doesn't reverse, quitting smoking can slow down how quickly your COPD symptoms get worse.
One Man's Story: Ned, 56 "I tried to quit cold turkey, but after just a few days I could tell that wasn't going to work. I realized that I needed to try something else. So I tried the patch, and that made a big difference. I can feel a difference in my breathing. And I feel hopeful that quitting will give me a few more years on my feet."-Ned Read more about how Ned quit smoking. |
You may think that nothing can help you quit. But today there are several treatments shown to be very good at helping people stop smoking. They include:
- Nicotine replacement therapy.
- The medicines bupropion (Wellbutrin or Zyban) and varenicline (Chantix).
- Support groups.
Today's medicines offer lots of help for people who want to quit. You will double your chances of quitting even if medicine is the only treatment you use to quit, but your odds get even better when you combine medicine and other quit strategies, such as counseling.9
For more information, see the topic Quitting Smoking.