Report Reveals True Cost of Lung Disease

A Heavy Toll: Canadian Thoracic Society Report Reveals True Cost of Lung Disease Many Canadians unaware of heavy price of COPD on patients and the healthcare system


A review of Canadian data by the nation's leading lung specialists has provided the factual evidence to support what respirologists across the country have been suspecting for some time. Shockingly, more people are being admitted to Canadian hospitals each year with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than any other major chronic illness (including heart attacks) and that number has been increasing dramatically in recent years.(i)

A new report released today by the Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS), entitled The Human and Economic Burden of COPD: A Leading Cause of Hospital Admission in Canada, is timely given the annual spike in hospitalizations due to lung infections each winter.

"Anecdotally, we've known for some time that we're seeing a lot of COPD patients being admitted to our hospitals," says Dr. Darcy Marciniuk, Chair, Canadian Thoracic Society COPD Committee and Respirologist at the University of Saskatchewan. "Perhaps what's most concerning, is that the report shows patients frequently being admitted more than once. In fact, 18 per cent were admitted twice, and a further 14 per cent were admitted at least three times within the same year."(i)


A serious threat


COPD affects both men and women, is growing in prevalence - the only leading cause of death to do so - and is now the fourth leading cause of death in Canada.(ii),(iii) It is a progressive lung disease that, over time, makes it hard to breathe. A person with COPD can experience a flare-up or exacerbation of their symptoms caused by everyday things as simple as catching a cold or flu, or going outside on a very cold day.

"What many people don't realize is that COPD flare-ups can be very serious - leading to hospitalization and even death. I refer to flare-ups as 'lung attacks' because like the effect a heart attack has on the heart, a COPD lung attack causes significant and lasting damage to the lungs," says Dr. Jean Bourbeau, Respirologist and Director of Respiratory Epidemiology and Clinical Research Unit at the Montreal Chest Institute, Quebec.


Weighing the human and financial burden


Once someone is admitted to the hospital for a COPD lung attack, they spend an average of 10 days there, with an average cost of $10,000 per stay.(iv) In fact, COPD lung attacks are the most costly of all reasons for hospitalization, and COPD as a whole could cost the Canadian healthcare system as much as $1.5 billion per year, according to recent estimates.(iv)

Danica Patrick as a spokesperson for DRIVE4COPD

Patrick using celebrity to promote COPD awareness

Joining NASCAR's health initiative to fight disease

Perhaps the most anticipated and talked about driver to enter the NASCAR scene, Patrick realizes the level of celebrity she's attained as an IndyCar driver, part-time swimsuit model, mover of merchandise (she's already a NASCAR top seller) and actress (she'll appear on CSI: New York) is both rare and powerful.

“
Being a popular person followed by a lot of fans gives me a platform I can use for good things.
”
DANICA PATRICK Being a popular person followed by a lot of fans gives me a platform I can use for good things," Patrick said while taking a break from a sponsor photo shoot in a west-end Manhattan warehouse loft teeming with impossibly tall models. "I want to use my celebrity to make a difference."

She is doing just that as a spokesperson for DRIVE4COPD, joining NASCAR in promoting a multi-year public health initiative to alert millions of Americans who may be at risk for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
As a kid growing up in Illinois, Patrick fondly remembers playing in her grandmother's house. Those good times were cut off, however, when her grandmother died in her mid '60s from an affliction not as well known as cancer or heart disease but one that's nonetheless the fourth-biggest killer in the U.S.

While Patrick decided to use her massive fame to fight the disease that took her grandmother, NASCAR was striking a unique partnership with DRIVE4COPD. The campaign will become the "Official Heath Initiative of NASCAR" -- educating fans about the disease and providing screening at Nationwide and Sprint Cup series races.

Additionally, DRIVE4COPD will become the title sponsor for the season-opening Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway, the DRIVE4COPD 300 (8 p.m. ET Feb. 12, SPEED).

"NASCAR cares about our fans, and we are very proud to partner with DRIVE4COPD," said Steve Phelps, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for NASCAR. "COPD affects an estimated 24 million people -- half of whom are undiagnosed. NASCAR fans have a history of being receptive to and involved in health initiatives, and we believe we can make a difference in this unique partnership with the DRIVE4COPD."

new tv ads for Chantix

Starting to see a new set of tv ad for Pfizer Chantix stop smoking medicine.


Well this is the time of the year when people made new year resultions and I am sure that quitting smoking is a very popular item on anybody list.


Best of luck this this new year.

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