Thu, Nov 21, 2002 page4

• Doctors want to warn public of disease dangers

  SMOKING GUN The incidence of a deadly lung disease has risen sharply in Taiwan and doctors say the majority of cases are directly related to tobacco

  • By Melody Chen / STAFF REPORTER
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  Doctors called for greater public awareness of COPD -- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease -- following the launch of World COPD Day at a press conference yesterday.

  "Nov. 20 is World COPD Day," said Shiao Guang-ming (蕭光明), a senior chest physician from Taipei Veterans General Hospital. He said this is the first year that the awareness day has been held.

  "A study by the World Bank and World Health Organization estimated that COPD is expected to rise to number five in terms of deaths by the year 2020," Shiao said.

  Shiao's report revealed that in the 19 years between 1981 to 2000, the death rate for COPD in Taiwan increased by 11.66 percent annually.

  "The fast increase in the COPD death rate comes as quite a surprise," said Shiao.

  COPD is a progressive respiratory disease that produces a decline in lung function that is not fully reversible. The loss of lung function and and reduction of airflow is associated with an abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs to certain noxious particles or gases.

  "To awaken global awareness of the disease, experts and organizations from more than 100 countries decided the theme for this year's World COPD Day is `Raise COPD Awareness Worldwide'," Shiao said.

  "Many major medical associations together have launched the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease to combat the disease," said Luh Kwen-tay (陸坤泰), a professor at the National Taiwan University Hospital.

  The program is chiefly led by the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the WHO, Luh said.

  "The characteristic symptoms of COPD -- cough, sputum production and shortness of breath on exertion -- often precede the development of COPD by many years," Shiao warned.

  Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are two distinct types of COPD. Some asthmatics also have permanently narrowed airways and suffer from COPD, Shiao said.

  COPD is actually a broad term that covers several lung and respiratory diseases.

  As the disease is difficult to detect in the initial stages, the Taiwan Society of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (TSPCCM) provided a questionnaire for people to answer to help them determine whether they are prone to the disease.

  The questionaire contained five yes or no questions:

  1. Do you often cough?

  2. Do you often have sputum production?

  3. Do you breath more laboriously than other people of your age?

  4. Are you over the age of 40?

  5. Are you a smoker (or were you a smoker)?

  Shaio said that if people answer `yes' to more than three questions, they should go immediately for a breathing test at the hospital.

  "The earlier you discover the disease, the less damage your lungs will suffer," he said.

  Shiao pointed out that smoking is the major cause of COPD. In fact, according to the WHO, 75 percent of deaths from COPD that occur in developed countries are directly related to cigarette smoking and tobacco.

  "To avoid the disease, the primary thing is to stop smoking," Shiao said.

  Shiao suggested that the government should take measures to improve air quality, strengthen COPD-related research, take better care of people's living environments and develop medical technologies related to COPD.
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