Early intervention into COPD

Are you a smoker? If so, are you thinking of trying to give up but are putting the idea in the “Too Hard” basket? I wonder what President Obama is deciding to do about his Doctor’s advice to give up smoking as mentioned in Jess’s previous Blog posted 5/03/10 titled “Doctors advice to smokers”?

There are many very important reasons to quit, there are many resources out there that can help, and spirometry testing could help you be more motivated to stop smoking and to stay on track towards a healthier life.

Why would you try harder to stop smoking? The Quit websites are excellent resources to assist in all the steps of successfully stopping smoking. The national site: http://www.quitnow.info.au/ or the various state sites: give so much information to help you under the following categories: the reasons to quit, how to make a plan, putting your plan into action, and staying on track. They offer online Quit coaches and telephoning the Quitline. Various other pathways are available through Community Health Centres, Hospitals and others who offer Quit facilitators to assist you. Can these services be improved upon to become more effective?

My interest in this subject was tweaked by an article I read in the Primary Care Respiratory Journal, Volume 18 Issue 4 December 2009 titled “A feasible program for early intervention in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): a pilot study in primary care” Of 72 smokers aged 40-70 yrs who had spirometry testing, 30 subjects were diagnosed as having COPD (a high percentage). Of these only 21% reported airway symptoms as the primary cause for seeking help, which supports previous studies that show mild COPD may not always be associated with symptoms. These subjects were offered an intervention program for one year which involved a specially designed smoking cessation program and counseling programs on physical activities and diet. Of these subjects, 19 completed the whole 1 year program, and 9 of those (47%) stopped smoking. Of a smaller group of 16 out of the 42 smokers who did not have COPD and who completed the 1 year smoking cessation program only, 19 % stopped smoking.

The researchers concluded that the intervention program was feasible and effective with a very high smoking cessation rate in the spirometry-diagnosed COPD subjects. Because the smoking cessation rate was greater in the COPD group it suggested that the diagnosis itself was a motivating factor. These data also reinforced the importance of performing spirometry in smokers because early COPD can be asymptomatic and spirometry is the only way to detect the disease. The benefit from early detection is that stopping smoking is effective in preventing further rapid decline in lung function.

COPD is a major health problem worldwide, and in 2020 the World Health Organisation predicts that it will be the third most common cause of death. The National Lung Health Education Program in the USA recommends that smokers over the age of 45 should undergo spirometry irrespective of the presence of symptoms.

If you are a smoker, especially if you are aged 45 or over, does this give you more incentive to seek out medical help, have a spirometry test, see if you have the early stages of COPD, and get the help you need to give up smoking?

Heather