question: my father in law is 76 he has never drank or smoked in his life.  Over the last couple of years he has been having a problem with his lungs they said he had copd but then said it was something else.  He has coughing fits and coughs up phlem, he also has sudden drops in heart rate some times below 40 bpm.  He had a heart attack a few years back and they put him on something to slow his heart rate and have lowered it twice.