Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed airflow from the lungs. Symptoms include breathing difficulty, cough, mucus (sputum) production and wheezing.
Asthma is a condition in which your airways narrow and swell and may produce extra mucus. This can make breathing difficult and trigger coughing, a whistling sound (wheezing) when you breathe out and shortness of breath.
| No. | Points | COPD | ASTHMA |
| 1. | Age of onset | Middle age, usually >40 years. | Any Age |
| 2. | Smoking History | Common, >20 packs years | May or not be present |
| 3. | Allergy | Uncommon | Common — Rhinitis, Eczema,Eosinophilia |
| 4. | Family History | Not Common | Common |
| 5. | Cardinal features | Cough, Expectoration & Dyspnea | Dyspnea, Cough, Wheeze & Chest Tightness |
| 6. | Sputum | Often Copious | Infrequent |
| 7. | Symptom free period | It is chronic & progressive without any symptom free period. | There is recurrent attack but the patient is usually symptom free in between attacks. In Chronic Bronchial Asthma, the features may be persistent. |
| 8. | Dyspnea | Progressive, Persistent (with exacerbation) | Intermittent & variable, vary from day to day & peak at night & in early morning |
| 9. | Spirometry | Airway obstruction is irreversible. | Airway obstruction is reversible. |
| 10. | Durnal variation of PEFR | Less | More |
| 11. | Sputum Microscopy | Increased neutrophil & helper T lymphocyte | Increased Eosinophil & Cytotoxic T lymphocyte |
| 12. | Bronchodilator Response | May not be satisfactory | Usually satisfactory |
| 13. | Airway Hyper responsiveness | Absent in 50% cases | Present |
| 14. | Destruction of Lung Parenchyma | Common | Uncommon |
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I’m Dr. Malini Bhat MD (Ayu); an Ayurvedic Doctor and a health blogger. Follow me on social media to get daily health tips which you can easily adapt to a healthy lifestyle.