World COPD Day: Raising awareness of a leading killer disease

(Vatican Radio) It’s the disease that effects 329 million people globally and is the third leading cause of death worldwide, yet chances are, not many people have heard of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or (COPD)

So why is it that more is not known about this illness which damages the airways and lungs and is associated with tobacco smoking, indoor and outdoor air pollution, and exposure to occupational dusts and chemicals?

Lydia O’Kane put that question to the honorary medical advisor to the British Lung Foundation, Dr Nick Hopkinson. “Well, it’s certainly the biggest disease people have never heard of”, he says. “It’s something that also sneaks up on people, a lot of people with the condition notice they’re breathless but rather than going to see their doctor or getting a diagnosis they often just stop doing the things that make them breathless.”

Listen to the full interview 

Symptoms

COPD is a disease that gets worse over time. The most common symptoms are shortness of breath, sputum production, and a productive cough. Although there is no cure, treatments and lifestyle changes can help.

The BLF medical advisor says, “it’s a disease with a range of severities…” He goes on to say that “as it gets more severe, people get more breathless as the lungs become more damaged”. He adds that they can suffer attacks, recurrent chest infections and at times have to be hospitalized.

What is often underreported is the devastating effect the progression of COPD can have on the patient and their families.

Dr Hopkinson agrees, saying that, “it has an enormous, enormous impact on people”. He continues, “research suggests that the level of symptoms that people have and the impact on quality of life is enormous and is as bad as many other well-known medical conditions.”

Care available 

So just what kind of care is available to patients with a disease that is almost seen as “invisible” and what improvements can be made? Dr Hopkinson says, that one obvious area that needs to be addressed is Palliative Care, the services for people who have very severe symptoms and towards the end of life. These, he says, “have historically been available for people with cancer, but much less so for people who often have equally devastating symptoms,” but now, he adds, there is a growing recognition that this needs to change.

World COPD Day

November 18^th 2015 marks Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Day, which has as its theme "It's Not Too Late." To celebrate World COPD Day, the British Lung Foundation is launching a new booklet ‘First Steps to living with COPD’, for newly diagnosed patients. It is hoped, having a day like this will go some way to raising awareness of this debilitating disease.