Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder, or COPD, is something many have heard about, but may not know much about.

Guthrie County Hospital Respiratory Therapist Catie Gardiner says that COPD tends to happen later on in life, and is caused by your airways becoming inflamed and thickening. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio what this thickening of airways does to a person.

“So a lot of things that people look out for is if they have shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, doing the simplest of things. One thing like walking up the stairs if they have issues with that, that is a good indicator that you know something might be wrong in that aspect.”

Gardiner mentions that some individuals may have devices that check oxygen levels, and that they may notice that their blood oxygen levels are low because of COPD or other respiratory illnesses. She adds that a normal blood oxygen level is 90 percent or higher, and that anything lower is a sign that something may be wrong.