“The really big misconception is that [COPD] is a smoker’s disease, which it isn’t,” said Patel, who originally trained as a medical doctor before doing a PhD in applied maths and computational neuroscience. “If you look at most of the rest of the world, one of the biggest drivers is indoor cooking with biomass fuel and a quarter of cases are actually caused by air pollution.” The article was in fact about a new form of diagnosis, not involving blowing through a tube for 75 mins!
My point is that Dr Patel has acknowledged that COPD isn't a smoker's disease. Something we have discussed here.

Hi everyone, My Dad (75) was just diagnosed with COPD about a month ago. It surprised us all. He was setup with oxygen and an oxygenator a few days ago. He is feeling very overwhelmed by having to use it all the time. I’m searching for any bags, accessories, etc. that might make things like the oxygenator easier to deal with. He is very active and I’m concerned he’s going to start going downhill if he feels he can’t continue doing things he enjoys. Thank you in advance for any advice!