Max Hospital Organise Workshop On COPD: 100 Attend The Workshop

By 1 2 1 News Reporter

Chandigarh 20^th November:--- To mark World COPD, Max Hospital, Mohali organized a workshop on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). As many as 100 people took part in the workshop.

Dr. Deepak Bhasin, Consultant at MSSH said that as per WHO statistics, COPD was likely to become the third leading cause of death by 2030. COPD was one of the most common lung diseases which made it difficult for the patient to breathe. Tobacco smoking, indoor and outdoor air pollution and exposure to occupational dusts and chemicals were the key risk factors for COPD. As per Association of Physicians statics, COPD killed more than 3 million people every year thus making it the 4th largest cause of death in the world. He said, there were two main forms of COPD. The first form chronic bronchitis involved a long-term cough with mucus, and Emphysema involved destruction of the lungs over time. Most people with COPD have a combination of both conditions.  Talking about the symptoms of COPD, Dr Bhasin said that the symptoms of COPD included cough, with or without mucus, fatigue, many respiratory infections, shortness of breath which got worse with mild activity, trouble in catching one's breath and wheezing. As COPD symptoms developed slowly, some people might not know that they were sick and hence it was advisable to get a Spirometry Test done regularly.

There were many things one could do to relieve the symptoms and keep the disease from getting worse, asserted Dr Bhasin. First and foremost was that persons with COPD must stop smoking. This was the best way to slow down the lung damage. Regular exercising and eating a healthy diet could help you remained active and healthy. COPD could lead to many complications including irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), need for a breathing machine and oxygen therapy, right-side heart failure, pneumonia, pneumothorax, severe weight loss, malnutrition and osteoporosis, maintained Dr Bhasin.  While emphasizing the need of regular Spirometry test, Dr Bhasin explained Spirometry was a simple and painless way to determine lung health and we hope that through this workshop we were able to raise awareness about Spirometry which was gold standard for diagnosis of COPD. The test was performed with a hand-held device called a Spirometer and could easily be used by patients with the assistance of an experienced technician. Spirometry was a convenient, non-invasive procedure which could be performed in the privacy of doctor's office or at an in-patient or out-patient facility. COPD caused the air in the lungs to be exhaled at a slower rate and in a smaller amount compared to a normal healthy person. Hence, the Spirometer was able to gauge the current condition of the lungs and the doctor could advise corrective action, if necessary.