Lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affect more than 200 million people worldwide, but related research and awareness programs are hard to find. To help close that gap, a German pharmaceutical company, Boehringer Ingelheim, has launched the Your Time initiative, which is an effort to raise public awareness about COPD.
Treatment of COPD has to begin immediately because, by the time of diagnosis, a patient will have lost half of his or her lung function. Although there is no cure for COPD, treatment can slow its progression and improve a patient's quality of life.
“COPD has significant physical and emotional impacts on patients," Dr. Richard Russell, senior clinical researcher for University of Oxford, said. "Both patients and health care professionals need to be alert to the early signs of COPD, when much of the damage to a patient’s lungs occurs. When COPD is first suspected, I would like to see the same sense of urgency as we give to the first signs of cancer.”
Increasing awareness will lead to earlier diagnoses and better management, Russell said.
Studies by the World Health Organization indicate that COPD will be the world's third leading cause of death by 2030.
