News
Today is COPD Awareness Day
November is both Alpha-1 Awareness Month and COPD Awareness Month and today, Nov. 16, is World COPD Day.
“For those who remain undiagnosed, this month-long campaign holds particular importance since widespread recognition of COPD’s symptoms will enable early detection and help to improve the efficacy of treatment and pulmonary rehabilitation,” says John Walsh, president and co-founder of both the Alpha-1 Foundation and the COPD Foundation. “Our goal is to facilitate more screenings and improved levels of diagnosis, drive the development of effective therapies, as well as to inform, empower and engage patients.”
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is a term for a group of lung diseases including emphysema, chronic bronchitis, refractory asthma and bronchiectasis.
The most common symptoms are shortness of breath, abnormal mucus production in the lungs, and a chronic cough. The primary cause of COPD is tobacco smoke (including second-hand or passive exposure).
However, genetic and environmental factors are important, too. Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency is the most important known genetic cause of emphysema and is commonly called “genetic COPD” or “inherited COPD.”
