Writer seeks to bring awareness to COPD

Friday, November 18, 2011

To the Editor:

As a volunteer member of Breathe New Hampshire’s COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) Awareness Team, I’m writing to bring attention to COPD. This disease recently surpassed stroke as the third leading cause of death in the U.S. and claims more lives each year than breast cancer and diabetes combined. Yet symptoms of COPD – frequent shortness of breath, chronic cough, wheezing and excessive phlegm production – are often ignored and dismissed as normal signs of aging, or of being out of shape. This may explain why 12 million Americans are living with COPD but don’t know it yet.

For COPD sufferers, partially blocked airways make it very hard to breathe. This dramatically compromises a person’s quality of life by making simple daily tasks like walking up stairs, shopping or even singing difficult.

A recent report on COPD released by Breathe NH shows:

•Women have a significantly higher rate of COPD than men in New Hampshire.

•Nearly one out of five adults with COPD (21.7 percent) is not able to work compared to only 3.1 percent of adults without COPD.

•Tobacco use remains the main risk factor for developing COPD. While New Hampshire adults with COPD are more likely to be current or former smokers, nearly one-third of those living with COPD have never smoked.

With approximately one in five Americans over the age of 45 living with COPD, it is likely that we each know someone who has the symptoms. The good news is that COPD can be treated. This November, as part of National COPD Awareness Month, Breathe NH and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and are asking people who may have COPD symptoms to listen to their lungs and talk with a health care provider about a simple test called spirometry. Early detection can help someone breathe easier and live longer.

JIM DAMBACH

Volunteer member, Breathe New Hampshire’s COPD Awareness Team