Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a diagnosis given to people with chronic bronchitis, emphysema or a combination of these. People with these pulmonary conditions have difficulty emptying the air from their lungs. This difficulty can lead to shortness of breath, cough or sputum production. In order to accurately diagnoses COPD, the allergist needs to order a test called spirometry, which measures if you have airway obstruction and how severe it is.
