Publications
Partners
Fifteen million US adults have diagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and many more may have the debilitating condition but not know it, a new report says.
COPD is the name for a group of progressive lung diseases, including bronchitis and emphysema, that make it difficult to breathe.
COPD incidence increases with age
Last year, 6.3% of US adults reported having COPD. The prevalence ranged from a high of 9.3% in Kentucky to a low of 3.9 percent in Washington state. Incidence increased with age, with close to 12% of people 65 and older nationwide reporting COPD, according to a survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Some experts welcomed the report, said to be the first state-by-state analysis of COPD.
"COPD continues to be overlooked and underdiagnosed in the US," said Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
Cigarette smoking is the main cause of COPD in the United States, and 75% of those who reported having the disease last year were current or former smokers. The report also said that 39% of adults with COPD continued to smoke.
Two-thirds of adults diagnosed with COPD said that shortness of breath affected their quality of life. The disease can make it difficult to work and lead to lost income, the report noted. About 18% of COPD patients said the disease had resulted in an emergency department visit or hospitalisation in the past year.
Smokers with COPD should talk to their doctor about ways to quit smoking, said the authors of the study, published in the Nov. 23 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Smokers not the only ones with COPD
But smokers aren't the only people who develop COPD, Horovitz said. "While the relationship to smoking is clear, it is well known that COPD can develop in nonsmokers, especially in urban areas," he said. "Certain jobs involving inhalants also contribute to the incidence of COPD."
A simple breathing test - spirometry - done in the doctor's office can uncover these patients, Horovitz added.
Adults with COPD symptoms (wheezing, shortness of breath or sputum production) should talk to their doctor, the report authors said.
The researchers also urged states to launch educational campaigns in areas where COPD is more common. There is no cure for COPD, but there are ways to manage it and improve patients' quality of life, they noted.
Read more:
Psychological aspects of living with COPD
More information
The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
(Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.)
