It affects more people than diabetes. It causes bad sleep, fatigue, and mood disorders.
Annually, it accounts for approximately 8 million doctor visits, 1.5 million emergency room visits, and it is the only non-infectious disease with an ever-increasing death rate.
It is the primary or contributing cause of death for nearly 250,000 Americans each year.
“It” is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, C-O-P-D.
COPD is the term used to describe Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema, progressive and destructive lung diseases.
It is a disease that primarily strikes current or ex-cigarette smokers, typically symptoms beginning after the age of 40. Reflecting the ever increasing use of cigarettes among females, the death rate from COPD for women rose over 100% from the years 1980 to 2000.
Based upon published findings, in Chicago alone there are over 480,000 cigarette smokers; an untold number of these people will develop destructive, fatal lung disease.
“People smoke, and it’s just common knowledge that a large number of smokers will inevitably develop COPD. Lives and families are crippled”, states Dr. Edward Lisberg, Director of Respiratory Research at the Asthma and Allergy Center of Chicago.
Unfortunately, it seems that most COPD patients and doctors accept the limitations caused by the disease as normal. This attitude often leads patients not to seek medical care until severely disabled.
When COPD patients do seek care, oftentimes, physicians fail to properly assess and treat the disease, leading to more despair and hopelessness for patients. The combination of low expectations and bias against treatment in the medical community worsen the impact of COPD.
According to experts, although lung damage may be extensive, the symptoms of daily cough or shortness of breath with normal activity, may take years to develop.
Currently, the American College of Chest Physicians recommends that every current or ex-smoker should have a lung function test for accurate COPD diagnosis and management.
A 2006 published Veteran’s Administration study involving almost 200,000 persons with COPD
indicated that this very simple message hasn’t gotten through to the doctors. The VA study demonstrated that at least two-thirds of COPD patients did not receive lung
function testing.
The research further indicated that patients seeing a primary care or general doctor were three times less likely to receive proper testing than those patients who did see a specialist.
Research clearly indicates that lung function testing can help doctors identify which medications may benefit individuals with COPD.
Although no cures exist for COPD, early diagnosis and proper treatment can improve someone’s ability to perform routine daily activities and reduce the frequency of acute COPD attacks.
Additionally, clinical research into investigational medications plays a major role in advancing treatment for current and future COPD sufferers. In the Chicago suburb of River Forest, Dr. Edward Lisberg directs a research team evaluating the next generation of COPD treatments.
“Our research programs are intended to raise the awareness of COPD among current and ex-smokers and their families, and provide COPD sufferers access to investigational treatment as an option to conventional therapies”, states Dr. Lisberg.
As conventional COPD treatment has changed little in the past two decades, research is the means by which doctors offer hope for better lives to COPD sufferers.
Odds are greatly in your favor that, if you don’t smoke or have a job where you have prolonged exposure to chemicals or dust, you don’t have to worry about developing COPD.
As long as cigarette manufacturers promote smoking as a matter of choice, and people continue to make the wrong choice to smoke, the number of persons suffering from COPD will continue to increase.
Proper testing, diagnosis, treatment, and participation in clinical COPD research are critical to reducing the burden that COPD places upon individuals, families, and communities in Chicago and across this country.
About the Asthma and Allergy Center of Chicago, SC
The Asthma and Allergy Center of Chicago, SC strives to meet the demands and needs of adults and children with chronic respiratory disease by providing both clinical care and investigational research.
The Center is located at 7420 Central, River Forest.
People age 40 and over who qualify to participate in the Center’s COPD investigational research studies, receive at no cost:
- specialist supervision,
- study medications,
- lung function testing,
- lab tests,
- clinic visits, and
- compensation for travel and time expenses.
For more information, or to participate in a COPD study, contact the Center at, 708-366-9300.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Cindy Rutherford, CCRC, 708-366-9300
Asthma and Allergy Center of Chicago, SC
River Forest, IL
cindy.rutherford@att.net
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