COPD -- a disease that should get more attention

COPD, which stands for Chronic (Lower) Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, has moved into third place for ways to kill Americans.  Higher than all accidents combined.  Higher now than strokes.  And the definition does not include Asthma or Pneumonia.  Asthma is chronic, but not lower respiratory.  Pneumonia is "lower" but not chronic.   How many are dying of this?  141,000 in 2008; five million in the last fifty years.  And another five million where COPD was the secondary cause (you can't breathe so you have a killing heart attack or stroke).   Lung cancer is not included in these stat's either.

COPD -- mostly Emphysema or Chronic Bronchitis -- is not quite an epidemic, and certainly not alarming ala AIDS or Alzheimer's apparently, at least according to the National Institutes of Health where very low research money is allocated for COPD research.

So COPD is what I'd called "the silent killer".  You've seen the ads for Symbicort on television, no doubt.  According to CDC and the American Medical Society, the drugs for COPD are mostly asthma drugs, not very helpful for COPD, although they can alleviate short-term symptoms.  Nothing reverses the damage, few things arrest it.  And it is the only disease in America's top five that is growing in incidence.  It is now third as a killer, up from eleventh forty years ago.  In 2000, when it attained 4th place, the AMA stance was that it would be third by 2020.  It achieved that by 2004.  Admittedly, it is a long way from 2nd place, but who knows....

I wrote a blog post for InnovaScapes Institute a couple of months ago (see http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7424011008025860740#editor/target=post;postID=1062432204056818458;onPublishedMenu=overview;onClosedMenu=overview;postNum=24;src=postname)
where I described some personal background in this area.

Since then, we've had a low-key investigative team at InnovaScapes Institute working on some history re this insidious disease.

The findings to date are worrisome to say the least.  With that thought in mind, I am starting this blog to report episodically on findings or discoveries, or other related matters.

I invite your feedback, to chouse@innovascapes.net