November 2007
Help Raise International Awareness of COPD
Today is the sixth
annual World COPD Day, an event held by GOLD each November to raise
awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) worldwide. COPD is
a devastating lung disease that progressively robs sufferers of breath.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), COPD is the fourth leading
cause of death worldwide, on par with HIV/AIDS.1 More than 3
million people die from the disease each year2, and up to 10
percent of adults over age 40 worldwide may have it.2-5
“If you have symptoms of COPD, the most important thing you can do is to see
your doctor for a breathing test,” says Roberto Rodriguez-Roisin, MD, Chair
of the Executive Committee of the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive
Lung Disease (GOLD).
Early symptoms of COPD include coughing, bringing up sputum, and getting out
of breath during exercise or exertion. Without treatment, COPD is generally
a progressive disease, and as the disease gets worse patients become
breathless during everyday activities such as climbing a flight of stairs,
walking the dog, or even getting washed and dressed in the morning.
Patients may be able to slow or even stop the progress of COPD by reducing
their exposure to risk factors for the disease. Worldwide, the most commonly
encountered risk factor for COPD is cigarette smoking. Other important risk
factors include dusts and chemicals encountered on the job and smoke from
biomass fuels (such as coal, wood, and animal dung) burned for cooking and
heating in poorly ventilated dwellings, especially in developing countries.
COPD is generally a disease affecting adults over 60 years of age.6
There are many different medications that are used in the management of
COPD. According to the NICE COPD Guidelines, “a pMDI [puffer] alone is
rarely suitable for use with the elderly.”7 The most common
problems that the elderly have with pMDI inhaler technique are failure to
coordinate activation with inspiration and failure to hold their breath
after inspiration. Both of these problems can be alleviated with the use of
a valved holding chamber.8
The
AeroChamber* Brand of Valved Holding Chambers play an important
clinical role in the management of respiratory disease. They are designed to
improve medication delivery, reduce oropharyngeal deposition of medication
and help patients to overcome difficulties in the co-ordination between
actuation of a pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) and inhalation.
Please join Trudell Medical International in recognizing World COPD Day.
1
World Health Report. Geneva: World Health Organization. Available from URL:
http://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/statistics.htm; 2000.
2 Lopez AD, Shibuya K, Rao C, Mathers CD, Hansell AL, Held LS, et
al. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: current burden and future
projections. Eur Respir J 2006;27(2):397-412. 3
Menezes AM, Perez-Padilla R, Jardim JR, Muino A, Lopez MV, Valdivia G, et
al. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in five Latin American cities (the
PLATINO study): a prevalence study. Lancet 2005;366(9500):1875-81.
4 Chapman KR, Mannino DM, Soriano JB, Vermeire PA, Buist AS, Thun
MJ, et al. Epidemiology and costs of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Eur Respir J 2006;27(1):188-207.
5 Buist AS, Vollmer WM, Sullivan SD, Weiss KB, Lee TA, Menezes
AM, et al. The burden of obstructive lung disease initiative (BOLD):
Rationale and Design. J COPD 2005;2:277-83. 6
Canadian Lung Association 7 National
Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), UK, COPD Guidelines
8 Barbee RA, Balancing the therapeutic needs of elderly
asthmatics. J Respir Dis 1995; 16(2):114-122
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