Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Health Story
Aired on Lifetime TelevisionSunday, January 22 and March 5, 2006
Show 303
"It's horrible. With COPD, it's as if you're drowning with every breath," says Dr. Robert Cohen of the American Lung Association in Chicago. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease affects the airways in the lungs, producing a serious loss of lung function. Symptoms of COPD are a cough, and shortness of breath. Smoking and occupational exposures are the main cause of this disease which is not curable, but is treatable. Spirometry testing is an excellent screening method. Simply blowing air into a machine can alert someone to the beginnings of COPD. Once diagnosed, respiratory therapists like Jo Ann Hurd are changing people's lives through rehabilitation. Therapy includes learning how to properly breathe, exercise techniques, good nutrition, and medication. This combination can control symptoms. Tom Hurd says, "The help Jo Ann gave me, changed my whole life." Tom also ended up marrying his therapist.
For more information on the American Lung Association click here.
For more on COPD, and the spirometry testing project between the American Lung Association and Walgreens click here and here.
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