What You Need to Know About the Stages of COPD

An estimated 16 million adults are living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the United States. COPD is a group of progressive lung diseases that can affect other major organs if not treated properly. You’re at risk for getting COPD if you have a history of smoking or were exposed to secondhand smoke or air pollution for a prolonged period of time. Your physician will run a series of tests based on your symptoms and will perform a physical exam to give a COPD diagnosis. Once you’ve been diagnosed, it’s time to determine which of the four COPD stages you fall under.

How does a physician determine what stage of COPD you have?

A physician uses the GOLD System when diagnosing you with one of the COPD stages. GOLD stands for the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease. The GOLD system bases the stage of your COPD on several things:

  • Your symptoms

  • How many times your COPD has gotten worse

  • Any times you’ve had to stay in the hospital because your COPD has gotten worse

  • Results from spirometry, a test that checks the amount of air and speed that you can exhale

The guidelines for classifying COPD stages are based on two measurements:

  1. Forced vital capacity (FVC) – The largest amount of air you can breathe out after breathing in as deeply as you can

  2. Forced expiratory volume (FEV-1) – The amount of air you can exhale in just one second

Your doctor will also give you grades for the following to help with a diagnosis:

  • How severe your current symptoms are

  • Your spirometry results

  • The chances that your COPD will get worse

  • The presence of other health problems

What are the stages of COPD?

As we mentioned above, COPD describes a group of progressive lung diseases that range from mild to severe. To help determine which course of treatment you will need, your physician will diagnose you with one of the four stages below.

  • Stage 1: Mild
    FEV-1 ≥ 80%: You may have no symptoms. You might be short of breath when walking fast on level ground or climbing a slight hill.

  • Stage 2: Moderate
    FEV-1 50-79%: If you’re walking on level ground, you might have to stop every ­few minutes to catch your breath.

  • Stage 3: Severe
    FEV-1 30-49%: You may be too short of breath to leave the house. You might get breathless doing something as simple as dressing and undressing.

  • Stage 4: Very severe
    FEV-1 ≤30%: You might have lung or heart failure. This can make it hard to catch your breath even when you’re resting. You might hear this called end-stage COPD.

If your doctor recommends certain treatment such as a CPAP machine or ventilator, Trace Medical is here for you! Start breathing easier today and contact us for a consult.

VGM Forbin