<s>[INST] Is it worse getting asthma when you are old? [/INST] Not necessarily, but asthma is often more severe if it starts at an older age. In addition, an older person with heart disease or other medical problems may have more difficulty in dealing with an asthma attack than a younger person.What is called asthma in elderly people is sometimes actually chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is a collective name for chronic bronchitis and emphysema, two diseases that are almost always caused by smoking. Many of the symptoms of COPD are similar to those of asthma (e.g. breathlessness, wheezing, production of too much mucus, coughing). COPD is generally a more serious disease than asthma, because the changes in the airways are much more difficult to treat, and it usually has a worse outcome. Unfortunately, COPD can cause greater long-term disability and have a greater effect on the heart and other organ systems than asthma. Source: Ginasthma. Link: https://ginasthma.org/about-us/faqs/. Field: Lung Disease. Disease: Asthma </s>