COPD is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. To put it simply, it is bronchitis which kills … And which concerns millions of patients in France.
We must salute the fight of the pulmonologists, these lung specialists, who are trying to impose the term COPD, for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A complicated and unpronounceable name. But in real life, 3.5 million people have it, including COPD almost as many women; Most of which do not know. It is about the bronchitis which kills… Which is a little more concerning and which justifies this world day of fight on November 15th.
COPD is the disease of “too many”. Too little known, too many patients, too many deaths, too much delay in diagnosis, while 12% of the population is affected, too many serious and definitive disabilities, too much neglect of prevention. COPD is bronchitis. But the bronchitis that obstructs and kills!
How many people does it concern?
3.5million French people have it? … and 17,000 die each year …
Everyone knows bronchitis and the word “bronchitis” like that, is not necessarily scary?
Banal bronchitis is acute bronchitis, that of the “cold snap” which, even if it is unpleasant, does not threaten life. This acronym was invented to avoid confusion; for nothing it seems …
Often the diseases linked to the bronchi are related to tobacco … Is this the case with COPD?
It is tobacco which, day after day, year after year, destroys the lungs. Yet everyone knows the signs. Whoever coughs and spits, even without fever, every morning has COPD. Simple. Simple and banal. But here is the trap! These signs should not be trivialized by thinking that it is normal to cough when you smoke …
And pollution, what impact?
This would suit smokers well… but in 8 out of 10 cases it is the tobacco which is responsible.
What’s Serious About BPO?
In the medium term, untreated COPD progresses to a progressive and irreversible narrowing of the size of the bronchi. The air will have difficulty in passing… then a shortness of breath will appear which, after a certain time, worries because it disrupts everyday life. It is often at this time – and only there – that the smoker consults.
And as often in medicine, is it too late?
The doctor can indeed show his patient, with supporting figures, that his lungs are no longer breathing very well, but he is also quite helpless at this stage.
How is it treated?
There are effective solutions that exist especially at the onset of the disease. They become scarce, like the air that reaches the lungs, as the disease progresses. The final stage is the use of the oxygen cylinder. Life connected to a tube. Nothing very encouraging.
From when is it urgent to consult?
Whoever coughs and spits, even without fever, every morning, should consult. According to a survey published by the Fondation du Souffle, 9 out of 10 French people ignore this disease. It’s astonishing considering its frequency …
Why this sign, this complicated acronym, COPD?
Because the fashion for acronyms comes from the Americans who for a long time thought of remaking the blow of AIDS which became the 4 most famous letters in the world… But they were wrong. People did not hold back this disease
And how do you know if you have the condition before you have the symptoms you describe?
If you cough, you spit. If you smoke, or if you live with a heavy smoker because let us never forget passive smoking, you should go and get tested by a doctor who will analyze your breath and give you a real assessment of the condition of your lungs. These are very simple exams that don’t hurt.
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