1. Understanding COPD Slideshow
2. COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) Quiz
3. Energy Foods for COPD Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

George Schiffman, MD, FCCP

George Schiffman, MD, FCCP

Dr. Schiffman received his B.S. degree with High Honors in biology from Hobart College in 1976. He then moved to Chicago where he studied biochemistry at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle. He attended Rush Medical College where he received his M.D. degree in 1982 and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He completed his Internal Medicine internship and residency at the University of California, Irvine.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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You may not notice any symptoms of illness until the disease is quite advanced. Even then the symptoms -- loss of weight, loss of energy, poor appetite, fever, a productive cough, and night sweats -- might easily be blamed on another disease.

• Only about 10% of people infected with M. tuberculosis ever develop tuberculosis disease. Many of those who suffer TB do so in the first few years following infection, but the bacillus may lie dormant in the body for decades.
• Although most initial infections have no symptoms and people overcome them, they may develop fever, dry cough, and abnormalities that may be seen on a chest X-ray.
• This is called primary pulmonary tuberculosis.
• Pulmonary tuberculosis frequently goes away by itself, but in 50%-60% of cases, the disease can return.
• Tuberculous pleuritis may occur in 10% of people who have the lung disease from tuberculosis.
• The pleural disease occurs from the rupture of a diseased area into the pleural space, the space between the lung and the lining of the abdominal cavity.
• These people have a nonproductive cough, chest pain, and fever. The disease may go away and then come back at a later date.
• In a minority of people with weakened immune systems, TB bacteria may spread through their blood to various parts of the body.
• This is called miliary tuberculosis and produces fever, weakness, loss of appetite, and weight loss.
• Cough and difficulty breathing are less common.
• Generally, return of dormant tuberculosis infection occurs in the upper lungs. Symptoms include
• common cough with a progressive increase in production of mucus and
• coughing up blood.
• Other symptoms include the following:
• fever,
• loss of appetite,
• weight loss, and
• night sweats.
• About 15% of people may develop tuberculosis in an organ other than their lungs. About 25% of these people usually had known TB with inadequate treatment. The most common sites include the following:
• lymph nodes,
• genitourinary tract,
• bone and joint sites,
• meninges, and
• the lining covering the outside of the gastrointestinal tract.

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