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World COPD Day 2018: All you need to know about Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Bengaluru, Nov 21: Today World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Day is being observed. COPD is a widely misunderstood and underdiagnosed disease. It's never too early or too late to address COPD. Diagnosis and management of COPD can improve longevity and the quality of life.
World COPD Day was founded by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). The first World COPD Day was held in 2002.
There are 251 million people suffering from COPD in the world. India has a prevalence of COPD that is higher than the global average. In 1990, 28.1 million cases reported in India. BY 2016, the number of cases rose to 55.3 million.
Risk factors:
- Tobacco smoke: Active and passive exposure
- Outdoor pollution: Vehicle and industry emissions
- Indoor pollution: Burning coal, animal dung, crop residue as cooking fuel
- Occupational: Exposure to dust and chemicals/fumes
- Genes: Severe hereditary deficiency of Alpha-1 antitrypsin
COPD in India:
- 2nd leading individual cause of disease burden
- Substantial portion of people with COPD have never smoked
- Air pollution contributed to more DALYs due to COPD than smoking
- More DALYs* per person with COPD or asthma than the global average
- Overall rise in prevalence due to the ageing population
- 3 out of 4 chronic respiratory diseases is COPD
Myth | Fact |
COPD affects the elderly, not youngsters or children | Indoor air pollution can affect the unborn child, COPD happens to children too |
Asthma and COPD are the same | Asthma is a separate disease and is considered a risk factor for developing COPD. |
COPD is curable | COPD is preventable but not curable. It is treatable, i.e, treatment options are available for improving quality of life of the patient |
COPD affects rich men as they smoke cigarettes | The disease affects men & women equally. More than 90% of COPD deaths occur in low and middle- income countries. |
*According
to
WHO,
One
DALY
can
be
thought
of
as
one
lost
year
of
"healthy"
life.
The
sum
of
these
DALYs
across
the
population,
or
the
burden
of
disease,
can
be
thought
of
as
a
measurement
of
the
gap
between
current
health
status
and
an
ideal
health
situation
where
the
entire
the
population
lives
to
an
advanced
age,
free
of
disease
and
disability.
DALYs
are
calculated
as
the
sum
of
the
Years
of
Life
Lost
(YLL)
due
to
premature
mortality
in
the
population
and
the
Years
Lost
due
to
Disability
(YLD)
for
people
living
with
the
health
condition
or
its
consequences.
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