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SEARCH FOR "MISSING THOUSANDS" WITH SERIOUS LUNG DISEASE
Monday 24 May 2010
A leading medical charity has launched a search for the tens of thousands of people in Northern Ireland who have a serious lung disease without knowing it.
Around 27,000 people are undergoing treatment for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). But NI Chest, Heart & Stroke says many thousands more have the symptoms, yet have not been diagnosed.
COPD - an umbrella term for conditions including bronchitis and emphysema - cannot be cured and is predicted by the World Health Organisation to become the third leading cause of death around the world by 2030. But it can be treated and managed - and the earlier it is caught, the better. When asthma is included, a total of 150,000 people in Northern Ireland are affected by respiratory illness.
"Better diagnosis and early intervention could reduce the local death rate, cut hospital admissions and save the Health Service some of the £47m it costs to treat respiratory illnesses - including COPD and asthma - in Northern Ireland each year," says Andrew Dougal, the charity's Chief Executive. "We would urge people with symptoms like constant coughing, wheezing or breathlessness to have them checked out by their doctor. We have written to GPs and pharmacists and will be supporting the message with posters, leaflets, radio advertising and health promotion events. COPD has been an invisible illness for too long, and we plan to change that in 2010."
NI Chest, Heart & Stroke is spending £250,000 this year on research into respiratory illnesses. It was also instrumental in helping to formulate the Department of Health's Respiratory Service Framework for treatment. And it provides 24 support groups for sufferers across Northern Ireland.
Dr Joe Kidney, consultant physician at Belfast's Mater Hospital, says: "COPD, if left undiagnosed, can lead to a lot of breathlessness doing normal everyday activities. If somebody has a cough or breathlessness going up the stairs or when carrying shopping, for example, it could be a sign of COPD. A simple blowing test done at the GP's surgery is all that is needed. An early diagnosis can help avert the progression of this disease."
NI Chest Heart and Stroke's Respiratory Support Network of 24 groups, operates in every health trust in Northern Ireland providing advice, support and therapy for patients who suffer from respiratory illness and their families. The Respiratory Support Network is funded by the Big Lottery Fund's Reaching Communities Programme.
