Your chances of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, may be higher than you realize. As many as one in four people over age 35 are at risk for developing COPD, according to Canadian research reported in The Lancet. They reached this conclusion after studying government data on more than 13 million people over a 14-year period.

One of the most significant COPD risk factors is smoking. The more packs you smoke in a day and the younger you pick up the habit, the more likely you are to develop COPD. And if you smoke and are over 40, your risk is even higher. But the problem isn’t limited to your own actions. Being around others who are heavy smokers can increase your COPD risk, too.

“We’re not talking about, ‘Oh, I just got on an elevator with a man who smelled like a tobacco shop,’ but [rather] if you live for years in the same house with a spouse who smokes,” says Alan C. Jasper, MD, FCCP, FACP, a pulmonary specialist and medical director of intensive care units at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles. (more…)