The public urged to learn about the warning symptoms of COPD

• By Lee I-chia / Staff Reporter

Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the seventh most common cause of death in Taiwan, more than half of adults have no understanding of the disease, officials from the Taiwan Society of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine said Tuesday.

COPD kills more than 6,000 people each year in Taiwan, officials said at a press conference in Taipei ahead of World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Day, which was yesterday.

The company partnered with the Health Promotion Administration to raise public awareness of the disease.

The company’s latest survey found that more than 50% of respondents aged 40 and over do not know COPD, and 70% do not know its main symptoms: coughing, shortness of breath and increased mucus production. company president Lin Meng-chih (林 孟志) said.

More than 80 percent of COPD patients in Taiwan were unaware of their COPD symptoms until they were diagnosed with moderate to severe COPD when they first sought medical treatment for the condition, he said.

The survey also found that more than 70 percent of respondents never had a lung (lung) function test, he said.

Because people don’t know the symptoms of COPD, many people ignore them when they develop, thinking they have bronchitis, but if symptoms continue for more than two weeks, they should see a doctor and be tested for COPD, he said.

The survey indicated that COPD prevalence in Taiwan is around 6.1%, higher than the 2.48% suggested by National Health Insurance Administration data, meaning more than 400,000 people may have the disease and not know it. he said.

Deputy Superintendent of Lotung Poh-Ai Hospital Chiu Kuo-chin (邱國欽) said that having a lung function test can help detect COPD in the earlier stages or they can do a one-minute stair climbing test at home for easy self-assessment.

People are at high risk for COPD if they can’t climb 30 steps within one minute and experience coughing, shortness of breath, or increased mucus during the process, he said.

People who can climb more than 50 steps without such problems are believed to have a lower risk of developing COPD, Chiu said.

“Smokers aged 40 and over should get a lung function test every six months,” Chiu said.

People with COPD should try to avoid exacerbating their condition, as mortality in hospitalized patients for acute COPD exacerbations can reach 22 percent, he added.

“People who smoke cigarettes have about 6.3 times the risk of contracting COPD than non-smokers,” Director General of the Health Promotion Administration Wang Ying-wei (王英偉) told the news conference.

Long-term cigarette smoking is the most significant risk factor for the disease, Wang said.

“Passive smoking is also a serious health hazard … so even non-smokers may still be at risk if their family members smoke cigarettes,” he said.