15
NOV
2023
WORLD COPD DAY
Chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) is a prevalent lung condition traditionally associated with cigarette smoking that usually remains underdiagnosed or is diagnosed in advanced stages of the disease process. Most patients are diagnosed in the sixth or seventh decade of life when symptoms are bothersome, or exacerbations appear. It is estimated that COPD affects 11.8% of adults 40 years and older of the general population. The mean age of the COPD population is 65 years, an age when structural and functional changes in the lungs and other organs affected by the presence of COPD are mostly irreversible. For this reason, it is believed that we should look for COPD earlier.
Could it be COPD is a simple question that you can ask yourself or your healthcare provider. The earlier COPD is detected, the better the results of the treatment. Here are some simple questions to find out if you might have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease:
- Do you cough several times most days?
- Do you bring up phlegm or mucus most days?
- Do you get out of breath more easily than others your age?
- Are you older than 40 years of age?
- Are you a current or ex-smoker?
If you answered yes to three or more of these questions, ask your doctor if you might have COPD. If COPD is suspected you should also ask to have your COPD diagnosis confirmed by taking a simple breathing test called Spirometry.
To download: COULD IT BE COPD
For more information on Spirometry Testing: www.copdcanada.info/spirometry-testing
World COPD Day
November 15, 2023
World COPD Day is organized by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) in collaboration with health care professionals and patient groups throughout the world. COPD Canada is proud to be a participant this year's international COPD awareness campaign. Each year GOLD chooses a theme and coordinates preparation and distribution of World COPD Day materials and resources with organizations in each participating country. This years' theme: Breathing is Life - Act Earlier
BREATHING IS LIFE - ACT EARLIER
The concepts of young COPD and pre-COPD
Stated simply, we are arriving late to initiate a disease-modifying therapy for COPD or a preventive measure such as smoking cessation. The search for early identification of those patients at risk of developing COPD remains controversial. Attempts to define a Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) “stage O” based on the symptomatic and healthcare burden of smokers with normal spirometry failed to demonstrate to be an effective strategy.
Nevertheless, a number of cohort studies have found associations between respiratory symptoms or low diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide and the development of COPD. More recently, the concept of pre-COPD, that includes not only symptoms but also structural or functional abnormalities compatible with those found in COPD has been proposed as a risk marker of developing the disease.
A better knowledge of the natural history of the disease should clarify whether the development of COPD is a continuum that starts at a young age in patients with symptoms and no airflow limitation, some of whom of them will progress to parenchymal abnormalities and airflow obstruction. The goal is to identify patients at risk of developing COPD according to the concept of pre-COPD in a large cohort of well characterized patients taken from the general population, and compare their clinical characteristics with those who have developed the disease at a young age and with the overall population with or without COPD.
Unravelling young COPD and pre-COPD in the general population is the title of a recently published study that appeared in the European Respiratory Society Journal. The study speaks to the concept of pre-COPD. For more information and a copy of the study: https://openres.ersjournals.com/content/9/1/00334-2022
World COPD Day - November 15th 2023
World COPD Day is organized by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) in collaboration with health care professionals and patient groups throughout the world.
COPD Canada is proud to be a participant this year's international COPD awareness campaign.
The concepts of young COPD and pre-COPD
Learn more: Young COPD
Lung Health Month
November 2023
If COPD is suspected you should ask to have your COPD diagnosis confirmed by taking a simple breathing test called Spirometry.
Learn more: Spirometry
Could it be COPD?
This is a simple question that you can ask yourself or your healthcare provider. The earlier COPD is detected, the better the results of the treatment.
Learn more: Could it be COPD
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