In order to live successfully with it, you've got to be educated. Hopefully, this book will do that. Tucker has received hundreds of letters and e-mail messages about the book since it was published in October. She writes with the narrative skill of a best-selling author. Long-term smoking a culprit COPD generally strikes after the age of 55.
Victims have one, two or all three of the diseases associated with it.
Because of this problem, the blood being pumped into the body is oxygen depleted, leading to extreme fatigue and shortness of breath. A long-term smoking habit is the leading cause of COPD in an overwhelming number of patients. Tucker smoked for 30 years, but had not smoked for two years before her diagnosis. She was 52 and facing surgery for what her New York City doctor had told her was probably lung cancer when she decided to get a second opinion. Worn down from a six-month bout with pneumonia, she knew her body would never survive surgery.