I mentioned a mere seven months ago that I was underway on a COVID manuscript, based on the voluminous COVID database that we constructed at InnovaScapes from 2020 through 2022.
See, for example, many InnovaScapes posts at https://innovascapes.blogspot.com/
The excitement now for me is that the Innovation Value Institute at Maynooth University has added me to "Stay Left, Shift Left-10X" Digital program for 2026+, seeking to improve Health Care by10 times https://ivi.ie/v4/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-Digital-Transition-for-Healthcare-Curley-Stay-Left-Shift-Left-v1.0f-IVI.pdf
Dr. Martin Curley has penned a book about the program, which can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Stay-Left-Shift-Left-10X-Transformation/dp/1068283904
Astonishingly, the combination of Respiratory diseases and Respiratory infections afflict more people worldwide than any other, even outpacing Cardiovascular diseases. This from "Our world of data" on page 34, Figure 14. Then, on page 130, Figure 63, COPD is listed by WHO as ahte third leading killer in the world, well behind all forms of Heart disease, and moderately behind Strokes. But the fourth leading killer is Lower Respiratory Infections (e.g. pneumonia, often exacerbated by COPD). Third and fourth causes together more than outpace Strokes.
So any way that you cut the data, COPD remains a BIG PROBLEM for the world. And, although "we" know some of the particular reasons, the research monies are still minuscule by comparison with any of the other top ten diseases on a per capita basis. Moreover, they are actively fought against by many economic and political forces, not least of which is US 'leadership' seeking more rather than fewer coal-fired power-plants for a world hungry for electrical power, and actively combating the rise in EVs in favor of fossil-fuel burning vehicles.
Somewhat strangely, two graphs on page 135 fail to support the COPD Top Three contention of Figure 63. Figure 69 is about leading killers for Low-Income countries, and COPD doesn't make the Top Ten list. Pneumonia here is the 2nd leading killer, after neonatal issues, ahead of Heart issues, and Strokes. Figure 70 for High Income countries has COPD fifth, and Lower respiratory issues sixth. So how do you get to be third, if not in the top four of either list?
The answer, though not detailed in the book, is that a lot of countries are rated "Middle Income Nations" and that is where the bulk of the world's population is. For example, China and India, which taken together are one-third of the world's population are in this 'center' group, as are most of northern African countries and all of South and Central America, with another 12% of the world. So, these countries, while not singled out in the book, feature very high COPD death-rates. In fact, WHO lists Indian deaths from COPD as the 2nd leading cause, and in China as the third. Both South American and northern African areas cite surging rates, while decrying under-reporting and lack of adequate diagnostics.
The research funding is a stunning and shameful story. NIH (2024) spent $3.8 Billion on Alzheimers resaerch; and $3.6 Million on COPD. The American Lung Association kicked in a whopping $22 Million for COPD. This is your capitalist system at work. The 'good news' with the current administration is they've stopped a lot of NIH expenditures, so this remarkable 1,000 to 1 disparity is being slightly reduced. And both CDC and ALA and most USA pulmonary doctors insist to this day that cigarette smoking is by far the leading cause of COPD, never mind the sixty years of data suggesting that other factors are in fact as or more significant. Have you read my earlier rants?
What has been surprising to me with the COVID studies is that irrationality, like stupidity, knows to bounds. The mistakes of CDC and WHO, not to mention an unspoken tug-of-war between epidemiologists and Public Health officials, are manifold, and tragic. And will no doubt be repeated in the next pandemic or epidemic.
Plenty of room to contribute to the conversation . . . . Stay tuned.
