New national study finds COPD knowledge severely lacking, impacts quality of life and care
Most chronic obstructive pulmonary disease survey respondents were unfamiliar with COPD and associated risk factors prior to diagnosis, results highlight need for education on health effects
2015-07-30
(Press-News.org) Philadelphia, July 30, 2015 - In a new national survey of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, Health Union reveals a surprising lack of awareness of risk factors and knowledge of diagnosis stage among patients. Results demonstrate a severe impact on quality of life, employment, and ability to afford treatment.
COPD, the third most common cause of death in the United States, describes a group of lung conditions that severely impact the breathing of nearly 15 million people in the U.S. (or six percent of the population) and more than 65 million worldwide. Only 38% of respondents were aware of COPD or its risk factors prior to their diagnosis. Almost one-third did not know their initial or current diagnosis stage. Additionally, at diagnosis about two-thirds wished they knew more about the potential impact of COPD and how to stop or slow down its progression.
"I think if asked, most people actually realize that smoking causes disease. However, the survey reveals that important information about the variety and severity of these types of disease is not reaching those at risk for COPD," said Leon C. Lebowitz, respiratory therapist and COPD.net moderator. "When armed with information, patients do take steps to change their lives. The survey shows that post diagnosis 68% of those that were current smokers quit and an additional 15% were trying to quit smoking. That's huge."
COPD clearly affects all aspects of life. Eighty-seven percent of respondents with COPD say they were unable to do as much as they could prior to acquiring the disease, with 32% needing some form of help from a caregiver. In addition, respiratory infections, high blood pressure, and depression were frequently experienced among respondents.
Only 15 percent of survey respondents reported they are working full time. Twenty-eight percent were on disability with an additional forty percent fully retired. Symptoms experienced most frequently were:
shortness of breath during everyday activities (78%),
difficulty catching breath (74%), and
fatigue/lack of energy (69%).
COPD and the accompanying breathing difficulties can make everyday physical activities like walking and even talking extremely difficult. There is currently no known way to undo the damage to the lungs.
Like with many medical conditions, COPD patients report expense negatively impacting medical care. More than half of respondents spent at least $500 out-of-pocket for treatment and 42% avoided a medication due to cost. Forty-two percent also would switch to a generic drug if available.
While smoking is not the only cause of COPD (15% of people with COPD have never smoked), sixty-seven percent of respondents blame themselves for having COPD and 78% wish they had done things differently so that they would not have the disease.
"This survey illustrates the need for more COPD awareness and education amongst the general public and patients as well," said Tim Armand, president and co-founder of Health Union. "As the incidence of COPD continues to grow, hopefully educational efforts like COPD in America and the new COPD.net website can bridge the information gap and ultimately improve care."
The COPD In America survey was conducted online in April of 2015 with 1,009 respondents who were diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a resident of the U.S. or U.S. citizen living abroad. More details about the survey are available upon request.
INFORMATION:
About Health Union, LLC and COPD.net
Health Union inspires people to live better with challenging health conditions - combining new, original content every day with digital, social and mobile technologies to cultivate active, engaged online communities. Health Union platforms are unique ecosystems dedicated to illuminating the voices and experiences of people with migraine, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hepatitis C, and more. Its services and offerings foster open and honest interactions about these health conditions between and among patients, caregivers, professionals, providers and industry partners to help all stakeholders make more informed decisions about healthcare. COPD.net is Health Union's newest online community dedicated to COPD, where patients and supporters of people living with COPD can connect, share experiences and learn about managing the condition.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2015-07-30
WASHINGTON, DC, July 28, 2015 -- Recent research has shown that racial segregation in the U.S. is declining between neighborhoods, but a new study indicates that segregation is manifesting itself in other ways -- not disappearing.
"We just can't get too excited by recent declines in neighborhood segregation," said lead author Daniel Lichter, the Ferris Family Professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management and a professor in the Department of Sociology at Cornell University. "The truth is neighborhood segregation still remains high in America, and our study ...
2015-07-30
This news release is available in French. By blocking the expression of a certain gene in patients, University of Montreal researchers have contributed to the demonstration of great decreases in the concentration of triglycerides in their blood, even in various severe forms of hypertriglyceridemia and regardless of the base values or the treatment the patient usually receives. The gene in question codes for the apoC-III protein. "Our study suggests that the proteine apoC-III plays a key role in the management of triglycerides. Triglycerides, like cholesterol, are lipids. ...
2015-07-30
URBANA, Ill. - With many types of cancers, early detection offers the best hope for survival. However, research into new early-detection screenings, as well as possible interventional radiology and surgical treatments, has been hindered by the lack of a large animal model that would accurately reflect the types of cancers seen in human cells.
For the last several years, researchers at the University of Illinois interested in improving screening programs for cancer have studied gene expression in mice, humans, and pigs in an effort to create a large-animal model that ...
2015-07-29
Support for eliminating existing exemptions, except for medical reasons, from immunization laws was among the policy recommendations adopted last weekend at the summer meeting of the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians (ACP).
"Allowing exemptions based on non-medical reasons poses a risk both to the unvaccinated person and to public health," said Wayne J. Riley, MD, MPH, MBA, MACP, president of ACP,
"Intentionally unvaccinated individuals can pose a danger to the public, especially to individuals who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons."
The ...
2015-07-29
A targeted therapy already used to treat advanced skin cancer is also effective against the most common subtype of the brain tumor medulloblastoma in adults and should be considered for treatment of newly diagnosed patients, according to research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
The drug, called vismodegib, is designed to block a key protein in the sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling pathway. The pathway is normally active during fetal development and is inappropriately switched on in about 30 percent of medulloblastoma tumors, including about 60 percent of tumors ...
2015-07-29
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Northwestern University have engineered a tethered ribosome that works nearly as well as the authentic cellular component, or organelle, that produces all the proteins and enzymes within the cell. The engineered ribosome may enable the production of new drugs and next-generation biomaterials and lead to a better understanding of how ribosomes function.
The artificial ribosome, called Ribo-T, was created in the laboratories of Alexander Mankin, director of the UIC College of Pharmacy's Center for Biomolecular Sciences, ...
2015-07-29
It's one thing to grow bacteria in a test tube, perform a screen in the lab, and find a mutation in the pathogen's genes. It's a whole other thing, and much rarer, to find the exact same mutation in nature--in this case, in E. coli in urine samples from some 500 patients suffering from relapsing urinary tract infections.
The confluent discovery, by University Distinguished Professor Kim Lewis and his colleagues, was published on Wednesday in the journal Nature. It could put people with relapsing UTIs on the fast track for a new therapeutic regimen that Lewis described ...
2015-07-29
RICHLAND, Wash. -- Using a climate model that can tag sources of soot from different global regions and can track where it lands on the Tibetan Plateau, researchers have determined which areas around the plateau contribute the most soot -- and where. The model can also suggest the most effective way to reduce soot on the plateau, easing the amount of warming the region undergoes.
The work, which appeared in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics in June, shows that soot pollution on and above the Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau area warms the region enough to contribute to earlier ...
2015-07-29
Following several years of research and collaboration, physicians and engineers at Johns Hopkins and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center say they have developed a computer platform that provides rapid, real-time feedback before and during facial transplant surgery, which may someday improve face-jaw-teeth alignment between donor and recipient.
Surgeons performed the first successful transplant of facial features, including the jaw and teeth, in 2008, mainly relying on visual judgment. Since then, approximately 30 facial transplants have been done worldwide, ...
2015-07-29
Brown dwarfs are relatively cool, dim objects that are difficult to detect and hard to classify. They are too massive to be planets, yet possess some planetlike characteristics; they are too small to sustain hydrogen fusion reactions at their cores, a defining characteristic of stars, yet they have starlike attributes.
By observing a brown dwarf 20 light-years away using both radio and optical telescopes, a team led by Gregg Hallinan, assistant professor of astronomy at Caltech, has found another feature that makes these so-called failed stars more like supersized planets--they ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] New national study finds COPD knowledge severely lacking, impacts quality of life and care
Most chronic obstructive pulmonary disease survey respondents were unfamiliar with COPD and associated risk factors prior to diagnosis, results highlight need for education on health effects
