Pulmonary Prognosis

The numbers are staggering. Statistics show that millions of Americans are affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) — the fourth leading cause of death and disability in the United States.

“Over 16 million Americans have been diagnosed with COPD, yet epidemiological studies show that another 16 million or more remain undiagnosed,” says Gretchen Lawrence, BA, RRT, FAARC, of the National Lung Health Education Program. The disease, which causes lung damage, is characterized by breathing difficulties due to emphysema and/or chronic bronchitis.

Unfortunately, the numbers are expected to increase.

“Naturally, everyone is keeping an eye on the aging baby boomer generation; even if the prevalence of the disease remains unchanged, diagnosis will have to grow proportionally with the population,” says Carla Laureano, marketing manager for CHAD Therapeutics. “Taken with advances in disease management and care, early diagnosis and better awareness of the disease, we can expect a significant rise in COPD patients being treated by the health care community. Most experts agree that by 2020, COPD will be the third leading cause of death in the world.”

“One reason there has been an increase in COPD diagnosis is that physicians are a lot more aware of it now,” says Bob Fary, vice president of sales for Inogen. “Patients are also being identified earlier on in the disease process.”

According to Joe Priest, president and CEO of AirSep Corp., “There is a greater understanding today by more and more physicians that identifying COPD earlier in the disease state leads to certainly better outcomes, and also it prevents the terrible deterioration that occurs when you catch somebody at the end stage of COPD.”

Patient interest in better quality of life may also be a factor in increasing diagnoses. “People used to have symptoms such as being short of breath and having a nasty cough, and they just thought they were getting old,” says Scott Wilkinson, Invacare Corp.'s group product manager for oxygen therapy. “Today, there is more awareness that prompts people to think that they are not just getting old but that there is something wrong.”

Right Treatment, Right Time

The goal of COPD treatment, regardless of the patient's progression — mild to severe — is to return the patient to the highest functioning level possible to improve and maintain quality of life, explains Lawrence.