This article was published on World COPD Day - 14 November 2012

It is far from being a 'silent killer', with symptoms including a persistent cough as well as severe shortness of breath. But Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) - an incurable and potentially fatal lung condition - remains a condition of stealth, often going undiagnosed and untreated. ¹

COPD affects more than 200 million people worldwide,² and kills one person every 10 seconds.³ Yet to the general public, it remains largely unknown. Those with the condition often blame their breathlessness on ageing or being out of shape. The result is often late diagnosis, with 80% of those diagnosed with COPD already having moderate to severe symptoms. ⁴

Two forms of COPD are better known as chronic bronchitis and emphysema. But the symptoms are identical: shortness of breath, frequent coughing, tightening of the chest, and inability to take a deep breath. In more advanced cases, COPD patients require oxygen and may be hospitalised. The symptoms are similar to asthma, but a crucial difference is in COPD the symptoms are constant and chronic, becoming progressively worse.

Smoking remains the single biggest cause of COPD,⁵ although other factors including exposure to dusts, chemicals and pollution can play a part. In poorer countries, inhaling particles from cooking indoors on open fires can also be a cause.

 

 

 

COPD awareness campaign

Our Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Healthcare businesses are joining forces to try to help healthcare professionals identify and tackle COPD.  This includes offering advice to help people take the single most crucial step to improve their condition – quitting smoking.

Through our programmes, we are running a campaign with doctors and pharmacists to boost awareness of COPD and its effects with their patients and customers. The aim is to support healthcare professionals in identifying people at risk of developing the disease so they can be diagnosed sooner - potentially slowing or preventing the condition’s development. We are also carrying out new clinical research into managing the disease.

The campaign will include tools to help those at risk from COPD spot the early-warning symptoms, and will explain how our smoking cessation products can help sufferers and people at risk to quit smoking.

We will work with pharmacies to increase public understanding of COPD through in-store displays, and materials such as a simple five-point questionnaire to help customers check their own breathing and lung function, and talk to the pharmacist about any warning signs. We will also be working with pharmacists to boost their knowledge of COPD through training and information - helping them to correctly spot potential patients, and refer them to a doctor. For healthcare professionals, we will provide advice to help with their conversations with patients about effectively managing their condition, as well as offering other patient support materials.

Globally, COPD is already the fourth leading cause of death and kills more people than cancer. The number of sufferers is expected to climb by 30% over the next decade, making it the world’s third biggest cause of death from disease by 2030.^6,7,8

References:

1. 25-50% of sufferers unaware they have COPD. Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease. Background briefing. http://www.goldcopd.org/uploads/users/files/WCDBackgrounder12.pdf

2. World Health Organisation (WHO), Chronic Respiratory Diseases pp14 Table http://www.who.int/gard/publications/chronic_respiratory_diseases.pdf.

3. WHO, COPD Online Q&A, 24 July 2008.   http://www.who.int/features/qa/48/en/index.html

4. Dalal, AA et al. Chest 2009 136(4)

5. WHO, Causes of COPD. http://www.who.int/respiratory/copd/causes/en/index.html

6. WHO, Factsheet no 315, Nov 2011,  Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease  http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs315/en/index.html

7. WHO Burden of COPD http://www.who.int/respiratory/copd/burden/en/index.html

8. Murray C Lopez A The Lancet 1997 349: 1498-1504