DON’T IGNORE COPD!
GET and GIVE THE SCOOP ABOUT WORLD COPD DAY!
This year, November 17 is World COPD Day. Its purpose
is to raise awareness of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease) and to encourage education activities in countries world
wide.
In the United States, the observance is fostered by
the US COPD Coalition, a network of partner organizations that are
active in COPD treatment, education, advocacy, and research.
To support the 2004 theme “Don’t Ignore COPD,” the
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) offers two
suggestions for patients and the public:
 |
Use the NHLBI Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Data Fact Sheet to
point out the importance of COPD in the US.
COPD currently ranks as the fourth leading cause of death
in the US and impacts considerably on the quality of life for
patients with the disease. More than 12 million Americans ages
25 and over report being diagnosed with COPD. According to
survey data, about 24 million adults in the US have evidence
of impaired lung function characteristic of COPD, indicating
that COPD is under diagnosed. The Data Fact Sheet also covers
US prevalence, hospitalization, emergency department visits,
mortality, geography, and cost data for COPD.
|
|
Refer patients to the COPD
topic in the NHLBI Diseases and Conditions
Index (DCI). This information resource is free,
printable, and emailable.
Suitable for newly diagnosed patients and for general
public information, the COPD DCI topic gives a plain language,
easily understandable discussion of causes, signs and
symptoms, diagnostic tests, treatments, and who is at risk. It
includes an explanation of how the lungs work and links to
other sources of information on COPD.
You can print it section by section, or it can be printed
as one handy document by pressing the “Print all Sections of
this Topic” button located in the lower right corner of each
page. |
 |
|
For clinicians and researches who want a glimpse of future
directions for COPD investigations, the overviews and
recommendations from workshops convened by NHLBI’s Division of
Lung Diseases make for fascinating reading. They can be viewed
on the NHLBI web site in the section “Information for
Researchers: Workshops, Meeting Summaries, Scientific Reports”
and in journal articles. Two are of special interest:
1. Future Research Directions in Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: NHLBI Workshop Summary
(http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/meetings/workshops/copd_wksp.htm).
Also published in the American Journal of Respiratory and
Critical Care Medicine, 2002, Vol.165, pp.838-844.
2. Clinical Research in Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease: Needs and Opportunities (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/meetings/workshops/copd_clinical.htm).
Also published in the American Journal of Respiratory and
Critical Care Medicine, 2003, Vol.16, pp.1142-1149.
As a member of the US COPD Coalition, the NHLBI actively
carries out its roles of supporting and promoting research on
COPD and providing public information about COPD.
The US COPD Coalition has developed objectives to support
two major goals of DHHS Healthy People 2010:
- Reduce the proportion of adults whose activity is
limited due to chronic lung and breathing problems
- Reduce deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD) among adults
|
We would
greatly appreciate a quick note to let us know how you use this
information.
You are receiving this e-mail
notification because you joined the Health Information Network of
the National, Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the
National Institutes of Health, or gave permission to NHLBI to send
you e-mails. These notifications are limited to the subject areas in
which you expressed interest. If you do not wish to receive
additional notifications, please enter your e-mail address as it
appears on messages from us, at http://emall.nhlbihin.net/hp2010/hp2010/unsubscribe_form.asp.
Office of Prevention, Education, and
Control
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/NIH
Building
31, Room 4A10
31 Center Drive, MSC 2480
Bethesda, MD
20892-2480 |
