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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder is a devastating condition that affects an estimated 750,000 Canadians and kills at least 10,000 annually.
But new research suggests the burden of COPD on individuals and society is greatly underestimated.
In a special edition of The Lancet medical journal dedicated to COPD, Klaus Rabe, a pulmonologist at Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, suggests that the condition be renamed chronic systemic inflammatory syndrome to reflect that it is more than a disease of the lungs.
The researcher notes that, in addition to the classic symptoms - shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing that become debilitating over time - COPD patients may also suffer from skeletal muscle abnormalities, high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary artery disease, heart failure, lung infections, cancer and pulmonary vascular disease.
Dr. Rabe said that to treat patients effectively, these symptoms need to be dealt with as a package, not in isolation.
The paper also suggests that the impact of COPD is far higher than the statistics suggest because "patients with COPD mainly die of non-respiratory disorders such as cardiovascular disease or cancer."
Another article published in the journal warns that the number of people with COPD will continue to soar as the population ages and the long-term impacts of smoking surface.
In a study conducted in 12 countries, Sonia Buist of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland found that 11.8 per cent of men and 8.5 per cent of women over the age of 40 were suffering from COPD.
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Ebook Burn fat like Beckham
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