NOTE. John's biographical notes and his wife Joan's letter announcing his death on 10th June 2008 have been moved to the memorial page

If you would like to read about recent announcements and developments, please go at once to the Site and Health News page

THIS PAGE WILL NOW INTRODUCE COPD.

SOME LINKS MAY BE BROKEN (FOR NOW) THEREFORE PLEASE CLICK ON A PAGE ABOVE THAT INTERESTS YOU.

WELCOME TO ALL READERS

This site is primarily for patients and especially for those suffering from chronic Emphysema, Asthma or Bronchitis, now known as COPD

WHAT DOES COPD MEAN?

Well it stands for Chronic (that means it progresses slowly) Obstructive (that means it causes narrowing of the airways in your lungs making it more difficult to breathe) Pulmonary (that means a disease of the lungs) Disease(obvious!). Hence "COPD"!

So does COPD cover just emphysema? Unfortunately no – COPD also covers chronic bronchitis, asthmatic bronchitis and other airways diseases. But it does not cover lung cancer.

· COPD kills 30,000 people a year in England and Wales . It is the 5th biggest killer in the UK and the 5th biggest killer worldwide  

· COPD is the only major cause of death whose incidence is on the increase

· There are an estimated 3 million people with COPD in the UK  , although only an estimated 900,000 are correctly diagnosed .

· In the UK, the rate of COPD has been increasing nearly three times faster amongst women than men

· COPD kills around 12,000 UK women every year [vii]

According to a new study, many people with emphysema, asthma and bronchitis continue to smoke despite the risks.
      Smoking plays a huge role in chronic lung disease and is the major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Clearly, quitting smoking is a key part of managing this disabling condition. But this message is not being acted upon, according to a new study from the Centers (USA) for Disease Control and Prevention.  

They surveyed over 11,000 patients and found that more than 36 per cent are current smokers, compared to 22 per cent of the general population.  Around half of the COPD patients had tried to quit smoking and 14.6 of them succeeded - mostly without any help. Of the smokers with COPD, around a quarter said that they had not received any advice on smoking cessation. Given that counselling and medication can help people quit smoking, far more should be done to offer this support to people with COPD.

Source
American Journal of Health Promotion July 2006

If you are reading this you will probably have already been diagnosed with COPD or have been told for example that you have emphysema or frequent asthma.

If you wish, you can go now to the Memorial page (see at top of this page) and read John's account of his life and emphysema problems. He was the founder of the site and expresses himself as such. Also on that page we show tributes to John from those who have benefited from this website.  

This is a posting by my friend Jean Rommes who lives in Indiana USA. I think it is the best personal description of our problems and answers I have seen. It was written to a lady who was very scared after being told she had copd. David.                         

To answer your "big" question, does anyone ever get better from COPD, the answer probably is no. It is a progressive disease, which generally means that it, well, progresses. The "progressive" part refers to the fact that everyone, whether they have COPD or not, loses lung function as they age. The lung function of a healthy 25 year old will be far greater than the lung function of a healthy 75 year old. That's life. Ok, now we can talk about life for COPDers. Our lung function, because of our COPD/emphysema/bronchitis/whatever, has decreased at a rate faster than normal. When we take a spirometry test or a Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) and they measure the FEV1 and it comes up with a percent figure, that percent figure is what we were able to do compared to a healthy person of our age, sex, height, weight, etc. Mine, for instance, is 35%, meaning that my performance on the test was about 35% compared to a 64 year old woman of my height and weight with no lung disease. My FEV1 has hovered around 35% since 2000 when I had my first spirometry test. That means that I've held my own, relative to the rest of the population. While my lung function is reduced because of the normal progression of age, I haven't lost any more in comparison to that healthy 64 year old woman. That's probably about the best that I can hope for: not to lose any more lung function in comparison to other women my age. How do you do that? Well, you exercise.....a lot, and exercise hard, daily. You watch your diet, keep your weight as close to normal as you can, take your meds like you're supposed to, get your flu shots and avoid people with bugs as much as possible. Most important, from my standpoint, is the exercise and weight control. 35% is a little better than a third the lung capacity of someone without lung disease, but I can work full time, travel for business and pleasure and enjoy playing with my grandchildren. I have a very good life, and you can too.....I understand being scared, but don't let your fright paralyze you.

Jean M. Rommes Osceola, IAjmrommes@mchsi.com
Exercise not only lets me live, it enables me to have a life.