• Posted May 7, 2025

Stress Quadruples Risk Of COPD Flares, Study Says

WEDNESDAY, May 7, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Stress can make it even worse for people to deal with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, a new study says.

High levels of perceived stress are associated with a quadrupled risk of moderate or severe COPD flare-ups (excerbations), researchers reported recently in the Journal of the COPD Foundation.

“There is increased evidence that psychosocial factors, including perceived stress, are associated with worsened respiratory symptoms for people with COPD,” lead researcher Dr. Obiageli Lynda Offor, a pulmonary and critical care fellow at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, said in a news release.

For the study researchers tracked 99 former smokers with COPD for six months, comparing their reported stress levels to their risk for episodes of worsening breathing problems.

COPD is an inflammatory lung disease that includes under its umbrella conditions like chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The disease affects more than 30 million Americans and is the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide, researchers said in background notes.

COPD exacerbations cause patients’ breathing to become worse than usual, with increased coughing, shortness of breath, or mucus, the COPD Foundation says. These episodes can be very serious, sending patients to the ER or landing them in the hospital for several days.

In addition to an increased risk of these episodes, higher levels of stress also were associated with biological processes linked to COPD, researchers added. These included platelet activation, oxidative stress and systemic inflammation.

Those processes, “which may lead to cell and tissue damage, are also impacted by increased perceived stress,” Offor said.

The results indicate the need for more research involving larger numbers of COPD patients, researchers said.

“While our study examined a small group of patients, our results demonstrate the need for further research on how perceived stress impacts respiratory health and the importance of addressing psychosocial factors to help improve people’s quality of life,” Offor said.

More information

The COPD Foundation has more on COPD exacerbations.

SOURCE: COPD Foundation, news release, April 29, 2025