Chronic obstruction pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disease of the lungs that makes breathing more difficult over time. It was traditionally considered a disease of men, but according to Dr. Meyer Balter, a leading expert on COPD, “there are now more women in Canada with COPD than men and for the first time ever, two years ago, more women died in Canada of COPD than men. And the reason is cigarette smoke.