On the eve of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Day, civic health groups, artists and physicians yesterday said that it is not too late to quit smoking.
Taiwan Society of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine director Yu Chung-jen (余忠仁) said that patients who suffer from COPD may develop swollen lungs that are inflexible and have holes in them, like a loofah, and they suffer from frequent coughing, tightness of the chest and shortness of breath.
Yu said about 90 percent of cases of COPD are associated with smoking, but about 40 percent of COPD patients continue to smoke.
The John Tung Foundation said its telephone survey of more than 6,000 adults above 40 years old indicated that while the prevalence of COPD is about 2.1 percent, about 4 percent of people are experiencing chronic coughing, tightness of the chest and other symptoms, as well as 3.5 percent of people with a smoking history of more than 20 years — both high-risk groups for COPD.
Based on WHO statistics there are approximately 210 million people with COPD around the world and about 3 million people die due to COPD every year, the foundation said.
Sun Yue (孫越), a celebrity who is a volunteer anti-smoking activist at the foundation, said he smoked for 37 years before he quit 30 years ago, but that he still suffers from COPD and was diagnosed with a lung tumor in 2007.
Changhua Christian Hospital physician Lin Ching-hsiung (林慶雄) said people over 40 years old with a smoking history, a family history of COPD or who are often exposed to air pollution should have pulmonary function tests regularly.
The Health Promotion Administration said COPD can be prevented, but cannot be totally cured, so quitting smoking is critical to preventing the disease. Because many smokers are not aware of COPD, only about 2 to 3 percent seek medical treatment.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
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