News
Foundation communications manager talks about his Alpha-1
The website Health.com features interviews with people dealing with a wide variety of health condtions. One of those interviews is with the Alpha-1 Foundation’s communications manager, Bob Campbell, who has Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. This is the introduction to the interview.
Bob Campbell, 64, has struggled with lung problems all his life. He had severe asthma as a child, frea quent lung infections as a young man, and diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at a very early age—his late 20s. But it wasn’t until this former newspaper reporter and editor from Prince Edward Island, Canada, was 55 that he found he had a genetic condition known as alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency. AAT is a protein that protects the lungs from diseases like emphysema, which is a type of COPD. Such a delayed diagnosis is not unusual: Fewer than 1 in 10 people with AAT deficiency know they have the condition. Today Campbell lives in Coral Gables, Fla., not far from the Alpha-1 Foundation headquarters, where he works as the communications manager and tries to increase awareness of this rare disorder. According to the Foundation, about 100,000 Americans have a genetic AAT deficiency.
