What is COPD?

COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) is a progressive disease that keeps your lungs from functioning normally. It is characterized by a gradual loss of lung function. The airways in your lungs are blocked, and breathing takes more effort. You may have started to limit your activities due to shortness of breath. Without proper diagnosis and treatment, you may become less able to do for yourself and be more dependent on others.

COPD includes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and chronic asthma, or some combination of these conditions. It is usually the result of smoking, exposure to second-hand smoke and exposure to occupational dusts.

There is no cure for COPD. But, with proper treatment, education, and disease management, you can learn to maintain an active lifestyle.

Currently in the United States, more than 36.1 million adults are afflicted with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a slowly progressive disease that typically becomes symptomatic in fifty to sixty year old adults. COPD is a group of lung diseases that include chronic bronchitis, emphysema and asthma. These diseases limit the flow of air in and out of the lungs, restricting oxygen intake and contributing to a build up of CO2 in the body.

The need for pulmonary rehabilitation in Franklin County is great. According to the 2002 Franklin County Health Assessment , 15.7% (168,229) of Franklin County adults report having been diagnosed with chronic lung disease. This is more than double the national average of 6.4%. COPD is the third leading cause of death in Franklin County, after heart disease and cancer.

The American Lung Association of Ohio estimates that 110,719 adults (10% of the county’s population) have COPD in Franklin County . Given the high rate of smoking for adults in Ohio and the increasing mortality rate, it is evident that COPD is a serious problem in Franklin County.

While COPD affects approximately 20% of the U.S. adult population, a study conducted in 2000 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that only about 10 million (63%) American adults afflicted with COPD were under a physician’s care . This means that over 6 million people suffer with the disease without proper medical care or access to rehabilitation services.

Medical costs for treating COPD are staggering. Non-asthma COPD in the United States annually accounts for 16,367,000 office visits and 500,000 hospitalizations. About two-thirds of the costs of treating patients with COPD are incurred in the hospital. Annual cost to the nation for COPD is approximately $32.1 billion, including healthcare expenditures of $18.0 billion and indirect costs of $14.1 billion . While these statistics evidence the current prevalence, severity and expense of COPD, as Americans age the incidence, and concurrent expenses, of this disease are expected to climb even higher .

These statistics do not reflect social and financial expenses incurred by those adults who are undiagnosed and not under a physician’s care. Nor does this data reflect and quantify decrease in quality of life for those individuals with COPD as the disease progresses. A recent American Lung Association survey revealed that half of all COPD patients (51%) say their condition limits their ability to work. It also limits them in normal physical exertion (70%), household chores (56%), social activities (53%), sleeping (50%) and family activities (46%) .