– November is COPD Awareness Month –
COPD, which stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, is a condition that Dr. Richard Stumacher, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at St. Barnabas Hospital, sees all too frequently among patients. It’s also a disease he says that few people, including those who suffer from it, seem to know much about.
November is COPD Awareness Month which, according to Dr. Stumacher, is a good time for people to begin to educate themselves about a disease in which the airways and air sacs of the lungs are damaged, usually by cigarette smoking or passive smoking (although it can also be related to inhaling dust or organic materials in the workplace, or even exposure to air pollution).
It’s a progressive disease which often leads to significant breathing problems and can severely affect an individual’s quality of life. The fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., it kills more than 120,000 Americans annually and causes long term, serious disability for many more. More than 12 million have been diagnosed with the disease and it is estimated that another 12 million don’t even know they have it.
According to Dr. Stumacher, there are two major types of COPD: emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Patients can also have asthma with their COPD.
Key risk factors of COPD are a history of smoking or working or living around chemicals or fumes. Common symptoms, which may not appear until more advanced stages of the disease, are shortness of breath, difficulty in performing such tasks as climbing stairs, and a chronic, often wet cough.
“A pulmonary function test, which is non-invasive, is recommended for any one with these risk factors, even before any symptoms appear,” said Dr. Stumacher. “The test measures how well your lungs work and whether there is any damage to your lung function.”
There is no cure for the disease, but early treatment can halt progression of the disease. The most important aspect of any treatment plan for COPD, said Dr. Stumacher, is for smokers to stop smoking.
“This is true regardless of how long ago you were diagnosed with COPD and how severe your disease is,” he said. “When you stop smoking, the progression of COPD slows. Treatments won’t cure the disease, but are available for the symptoms and complications.”
Many of the medications used to treat COPD are similar to those used for asthma (although used differently). Progression of the disease can require the need for life-long oxygen (and the use of a ventilator).
“This is why halting the progression of the disease is so important,” said Dr. Stumacher, who was instrumental in making St. Barnabas Hospital the first smoke-free campus in the Bronx in 2008. “Patients who think they may have COPD should ask about a pulmonary function test and, if they smoke, a referral to a smoking cessation specialist.”