Linda Young - AHN Editor
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Although COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is the fourth leading cause of death, not many people are aware of the risk factors or know it is a treatable disease, but that is beginning to change.
COPD affects an estimated 24 million Americans, half of whom have already been diagnosed with the disease, while the other half are undiagnosed, the federal National Institutes of Health (NIH) said in a statement.
Its National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has done a survey that found 64 percent of survey respondents had heard of COPD, compared with 49 percent in a 2004 survey, but only half of those who knew about COPD knew it was a leading cause of death and only 44 percent knew the disease could be treated.
Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., director, NHLBI said in a statement that increasing awareness of COPD symptoms and risk factors is important to "improve rates of diagnosis and treatment."
One of the top-ranking risk factors for COPD is being a smoker or former smoker. Health officials urge people with risk factors or symptoms of the disease to get a simple, non-invasive test for COPD that involves breathing into a tube connected to a machine that measures lung function.
Symptoms of COPD include shortness of breath and chronic coughing. Treatments can improve breathing, reduce symptoms and help get patients back to living a more normal life, the NHLBI said in a statement.
November is National COPD Awareness Month.
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