“Seven out of 10 patients with COPD don’t know it.”

It is a rarely diagnosed condition because 7 out of 10 people with COPD They don’t know that they are suffering from it. Director of Health Ourense Medical Center, Abel Palhares Sanmartin; chapter Pulmonology Service, Isaura Parente Lamelasand medical personnel Servicewhich offered informative materials to users while simultaneously providing pulmonary function tests to anyone who requested them.

HIGH PERCENTAGE

Hugo Gomez, pulmonary specialistand one of the participants in this informative table emphasizes that “More than 90% of patients suffering from this disease are smokers or former smokers” and in this sense, it highlights the importance of “promoting smoke-free areas” to prevent this disease. Many times we see terraces full of patients who do not smoke but are exposed to tobacco smoke, as are the children living in these premises; “We need to encourage people not to smoke to avoid these harmful effects on so-called second-hand smokers.”

Yesterday, the new Ourense Hospital posted an information table about the disease, which has a prevalence of 14% in Galicia.

Gomez remember that ” Obstructive pulmonary disease It is already the third cause of death in the world, and we are talking about a disease whose prevalence reaches 12% at the national level and reaches 14% in the Galician community.” Doctor Mr. University Hospital Complex of Ourense insists on the importance that “this disease can be prevented if appropriate measures are taken,” although it emphasizes the fact that “there is an underdiagnosis of this disease of up to 75%; that is, 7 out of 10 patients have COPD and don’t know it“

SYMPTOMS

“If there are respiratory symptoms and we have smoked or continue to smoke, the main clinical method is spirometry.“- notes the specialist Pulmonology service. “He COPD “It also goes hand in hand with lung cancer,” recalls the specialist, adding that “we know that this is already one of the most important causes of tumor mortality in this country, and it is clear that patients suffering from lung cancer COPD “They have a much higher risk of developing lung cancer in the medium term.”