Sincerely, Concerned. Dear Concerned, COPD, like many other medical conditions, is classified by its severity. There are four stages of COPD. Each stage is measured by what is called your Forced Expiratory Volume (FEV1), which measures the amount of air you exhale. read more
The GOLD Emphysema Staging System This is a set of guidelines established by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). It measures how much air you can blow out of your lungs in 1 second. read more
Emphysema is a disease of the lung tissue where the elastic nature of the lungs gets destroyed by the irritating effects of cigarette smoke. This causes the lungs to lose the ability to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide in the normal way and makes it harder for you to breath. read more