Got back from visiting a friend in the hospital a bit ago...
He checked himself in because he was having extreme difficulty with his breathing. They put him on a respirator and put him under with some heavy meds. They left him under and on the respirator for 2-3 days ( he's unclear as to when they woke him up ). Because he's a smoker, they are leaning towards COPD but if true, it's be odd since the only thing he'd complained about in the recent past has been being tired a lot, which he'd contributed due to stress from trying to get his house ready for sale and other recent events in his life.
I'm also not of the opinion that it's COPD but I'm not ruling it out either. He had been cleaning a lot recently... so other chemicals or possibly mold may also be contributing factors that could explain whatever has caused it. There are known natural medications ( that can't be mentioned here ) that are known to help that have no known health risks associated with them. Part of that ( the legal part ) is CBD oil and falls under the health food category... I'm also going to suggest Hemp oil since its known to rebuild
dna and has many other benefits as well. Both should be available at health food stores and/or online.