Will copd necessarily progress to emphysema?

No: COPD is a big box. It includes many diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, asthmatic bronchitis, and emphysema. Check with your lung doc.

Emphysema is a COPD: COPD (Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) is a group of diseases that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. The disease names do not indicate severity.

See below: COPD is a combination term we use to describe emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Some patients have strictly emphysema and some have strictly chronic bronchitis. However, most patients have a combo of the two.